UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


NOLL  AND  THE  FAIRIES 


1ON  SHE  FLEW  INTO  THE  BARN-YARD.' 


Noll  and  the  Fairies 

BY 

HERVEY   WHITE 

ILLUSTRATED  BY 

ELIZABETH  KRYSHER 


Herbert  S.    Stone   and  Company 

Eldridge  Court,  Chicago 

MCMIII 


Copyright,  1902 

by 
HERBERT  S.  STONE  &  CO. 


Published  Oct.  25,  1902 


Noll  and  the  Fairies 


i 


ONCE  upon  a  time,  long  ago,  in  a 
wide,   green,   far-away    country, 
where    all    the     raindrops     are 
pearls  and  the  dewdrops  most  beautiful 
diamonds,   there  was  born  in  the  end 
of  a  rainbow  a  tiny  little  brown  baby, 
blinking  his   big  eyes   like  a  bat   and 
screaming  at  the  top  of  his  voice. 
The  nurse,  who  pretended  to  know 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

everything,  said  he  cried  because  he 
was  cold,  and  straightway  she  put  him 
into  warm  water  and  made  ready  with 
flannels  and  bandages.  The  doctor, 
who  knew  so  much  that  he  never  said 
anything  whatever,  walked  away  with 
the  father  to  take  a  drink.  And  the 
mother,  who  knew  nothing  at  all,  but 
just  smiled  and  smiled,  she  was  so 
happy,  lay  looking  out  of  the  window 
wondering  why  the  world  was  so  rosy, 
for  she  didn't  even  know  of  the  rain- 
bow, though  its  light  was  in  her  eyes 
and  on  her  mouth.  The  schoolmaster, 
who  was  not  there,  but  who  knew  more 
than  anyone  for  all  that,  said  he  knew 
the  reason  the  baby  was  crying,  but  he 
wouldn't  tell  for  six  years,  and  then 
only  to  the  baby  himself.  It  was  won- 
derful how  the  schoolmaster  could 
keep  talking  and  never  tell  anything 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

at  all,  but  that  is  one  of  the  secrets  of 
learning  and  doesn't  concern  you  or 
me. 

Well,  the  baby  grew  and  grew,  and 
was  called  Noll;  that  was  because  his 
head  was  so  round.  His  nose  stuck 
out  like  a  hazelnut,  and  what  little  hair 
there  was  on  him  was  a  sort  of  hazelnut 
brown.  He  stared  with  his  big  bubble 
eyes  and  screwed  up  his  face  and 
grunted,  and  what  he  liked  best  of  all 
was  to  feed  at  his  mother's  breast. 
And  what  he  liked  next  best,  I  guess, 
was  to  sleep,  and  be  let  alone,  and  not 
have  the  nurse  bundling  at  him,  and 
children  poking  him  with  fingers,  and 
screaming  "peek"  in  his  face.  Well, 
so  he  grew  and  grew,  just  a  little  all 
the  time,  till  the  day  of  his  christening 
came,  and  all  the  people  were  rejoicing. 
Now  it  was  at  the  supper  after  the 
3 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

christening  that  the  schoolmaster  got 
to  drinking  more  than  usual — he  was 
always  drinking  more  than  usual — and 
it  was  while  he  was  drinking  more 
than  usual  that  he  up  and  told  the 
father  his  secret  that  he  wasn't  to 
tell  for  six  years.  The  father  listened 
attentively,  as  one  should  when  the 
schoolmaster  talks,  and  though  the 
secret  wasn't  really  true,  not  at  all 
what  actually  happened,  it  makes  little 
difference  to  us,  for  it  brings  us  to  the 
beginning  of  our  story. 

You  see  the  fairies,  at  the  birth, 
were  quarreling  over  the  baby,  partly 
because  fairies  are  always  quarreling 
— the  good  ones  quarreling  with  the 
bad — and  partly  because  this  baby  was 
born  in  the  end  of  a  rainbow,  which 
doesn't  happen  very  often,  and  is  a 
matter  of  great  importance  when  it 
4 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

does.  For,  to  be  born  in  the  end  of  a 
rainbow — I  hope  you  are  listening  very 
carefully — to  be  born  in  the  end  of  a 
rainbow  is  to  be  born  a  true  child  of 
Heaven,  living  for  God's  truth  and  His 
beauty,  and  trying  to  make  them 
known  here  on  earth.  Some  call  these 
Heaven  children  poets,  and  some  call 
them  artists  or  singers,  but  I  have 
heard  of  one  who  was  a  carpenter,  and 
once,  in  a  great  crowded  city,  I  thought 
I  saw  a  vague  memory  of  rainbow  in 
the  faded  sick  eyes  of  a  child. 
Wherever  they  may  be  in  the  world 
they  are  very  far  apart  and  very 
lonely,  for  no  one  recognizes  them  as 
Heaven  children;  only  the  fairies  know 
them  in  a  minute,  for  they  see  where 
the  rainbow  comes  down;  but  mortal 
men  do  not  see  it  at  all,  although  they 
insist  they  do  often;  the  trouble  is  that 
5 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

mortals  are  not  perfect,  and  the  light  is 
ever  shifting  in  their  eyes. 

Well,  the  real  struggle  of  the  fairies 
was  between  a  princess  and  a  gnome; 
the  others  had  all  taken  sides  with 
these,  and  were  talking  like  katydids 
and  grasshoppers.  The  princess  had 
the  baby  by  the  head,  and  the  gnome 
was  clutching  him  around  the  heart, 
each  pulling  in  opposite  directions. 
No  wonder  the  poor  baby  cried. 

The  princess  was  very,  very  beauti- 
ful, and  very  gorgeously  dressed — 
white  satin  and  diamonds  and  pearls, 
not  pearls  of  raindrops  and  diamonds 
of  dew,  but  real  ones,  hard  and  high 
polished,  as  hard  as  the  princess's 
heart.  She  had  her  cold  hands 
clutched  on  his  head,  and  all  her 
retinue  was  behind  trying  to  get  hold 
to  help,  but  the  gnome's  warm  hands 
6 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

were  so  big  that  they  covered  the  baby 
all  up,  so  the  courtiers  could  not  get 
hold,  and  the  princess  had  to  pull  all 
alone. 

The  gnome  was  a  curious  looking 
fellow.  Any  boy  would  hoot  him  in 
the  streets.  He  had  shaggy  hair  on 
his  legs  and  looked  more  like  a  goat 
than  a  man;  only  there  was  a  kindness 
in  his  face,  but  boys  on  the  street  don't 
see  that. 

Well,  the  princess  pulled,  and  the 
gnome  pulled.  And  the  nurse  thought 
the  baby  was  cold.  The  gnome  had 
the  best  hold  of  course;  besides,  he 
was  strongest  though  misshapen.  But 
just  when  the  princess  let  go  she  gave 
the  baby's  head  a  little  twist,  and  for 
that  reason  it  could  never  see  quite 
straight,  but  would  always  turn  toward 
the  princess  and  her  people.  But  the 
7 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

good  gnome  caught  him  to  his  breast 
and  from  that  time  the  baby  did  not 
cry  any  more,  and  the  nurse  thought  it 
was  the  warm  water  that  did  it,  and 
went  on  pretending  more  than  ever. 
Now  this  is  not  what  the  schoolmaster 
told  when  he  was  drinking  at  the 
christening;  but  all  the  same  it  is  the 
beginning  of  my  story. 


II 

LITTLE     NOLL    continued    to 
grow,  'tended  by  the  gnome  and 
his  people.     It  is  wonderful  what 
fairies  can  do  for  babies  when  humans 
nearly    wear    the    life    out    of     them. 
Sometimes  when  Noll's  sister  Jane  was 
trotting  him  violently  on   her  knee — 
she  did  it  just  to  amuse  him,  but  he  felt 
like  a  jelly-fish  on  horseback — some- 
times   when    his    eyes    were    getting 
glassy    and    his    brains    going  addled 
9 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

inside,  and  as  for  his  poor  little  chin  it 
was    clapping     like    an    old-fashioned 
knocker,   why  then   the   fairies  would 
come  in  and  straight    off   set  to  ^  his 
rescue.     One  of  them  would  turn  into 
a  fly  and  bite  through  a  hole  in  Jane's 
stocking,  and  while  she  was  scratching 
her  heel  the  others  would  get  after  a 
mouse  in  the  wall  and  frighten  it  from 
its   hole  into   the   kitchen.    Then   the 
cook  would  get  into  a  chair  and  scream 
for  Jane  to  bring  the   cat,  and  Jane 
would  lay  Noll  on  the  bed  and  give  his 
brains   time   to   grow  together    again, 
while  the  cat  was  waked  up  from  her 
cushion  and  thrown  like  a  bean-bag  at 
the  mouse.    The   fairies   entered   into 
the  fun,  for  they  knew  little  Noll  was 
all   right.    They  stood  before  all  the 
mouse  holes  and  shouted  to  keep  little 
Dor  from  running  in.  They  beat  their 


10 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

tiny  caps  on  the  cat's  eyelids  and  made 
her  sleepier  than  ever.  One  of  them 
tickled  the  cook  on  the  ear,  and  of 
course  she  thought  it  was  the  mouse, 
though  there  it  was  running  before 
her,  and  made  her  leap  for  the  table 
and  upset  a  big  pan  of  batter.  Then 
the  cat  stopped  to  lick  up  the  batter 
and  the  mouse  ran  into  a  hole.  The 
cook  got  down  to  cuff  the  cat's  ears 
and  sister  Jane  went  off  to  play  for  fear 
her  ears  would  come  after  the  cat's. 
Meanwhile,  Noll  could  have  a  long 
rest.  He  lay  there  thinking  his  own 
thoughts  and  wondering  what  would 
come  next. 

Life  was  a  strange  thing  to  him  in 
those  days;  stranger  than  to  you  or  to 
me,  though  goodness  knows  I  find  it 
strange  enough,  and  I  am  four  and 
thirty  years  old.  With  Noll  it  was 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

mostly  feeling  at  first;  he  couldn't  see 
nor  hear  very  well.  Still,  he  may  have 
been  thankful  for  that.  Things  came 
and  pressed  on  his  sides;  warm  things 
with  more  pressure  at  the  ends.  Some 
of  them  were  soft  and  tender,  and 
some  of  them  were  firm  and  tender, 
too;  but  often  they  were  not  tender  at 
all,  but  inquisitive  and  fussy  and  wrig- 
gling. Even  when  there  are  only 
hands  in  the  world  there  are  a  great 
many  disagreeable  kinds  of  hands. 
Then  there  were  hands  inside  that  he 
felt,  or  that's  what  he  thought  they 
were  then.  Some  of  them  clutched  in 
his  stomach,  and  he  had  to  call  on 
them  to  stop.  When  he  called  long 
enough,  and  loud  enough,  the  soft  ten- 
der hands  came  on  his  outside  and 
put  his  face  against  his  mother's  soft 
breast.  Then  the  clutching  hands 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

inside  stopped  and  he  felt  as  happy  as 
toast. 

After  a  while  he  began  to  see  and  to 
hear,  but  he  couldn't  tell  one  from  the 
other.  He  didn't  know  ears  from  eyes. 
Everything  seemed  inside  to  him.  His 
brother  Henry  would  beg  to  hold  the 
baby,  and  then  all  sorts  of  things  began 
to  happen:  screams  of  light!  and 
flashes  of  sound!  Something  big  and 
white  had  been  before  him,  now  it  was 
in  square  spots  and  hurt.  "Bow,  wow, 
wow!"  it  went  through  him,  lasting  for 
ten  minutes  of  uproar. 

"Henry,  don't  hold  the  baby  to  the 
window,  the  strong  light  is  bad  for  its 
eyes.  Don't  try  to  talk  to  it  yet,  just 
sit  down  and  hold  it  gently  and  still." 

But  what  boy  was  ever  gentle  or  still? 
In  time  Noll  got  back  to  his  mother, 
battered    from    within    and    without. 
'3 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

Sometimes  he  screamed  and  kicked 
wildly.  It  seemed  to  deaden  the 
shocks. 

Little  at  a  time  things  got  righted. 
He  found  that  the  world  didn't  really 
slide  over  him,  but  that  he  was  lifted 
about.  Noises  became  different  from 
lights.  He  believed  he  liked  noises 
the  least:  they  made  such  a  babble 
and  thumping.  Then  there  came  an 
up  and  a  down  to  him.  He  was  certain 
he  should  always  like  up  the  best. 
Down  put  such  a  lump  in  his  throat. 
But  better  even  than  up  he  liked  his 
mother,  there  was  such  a  soft  cooing 
about  her. 

One  day  he  made  a  grand  discovery. 
No  less  than  his  own  feet  were  his! 

It  wasn't  that  he  had  thought  they 
were  somebody  else's,  for  he  knew  his 
own  kicking  was  in  them,  he  could  feel 
14 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

them  going  up  and  down.  But  the 
curious  part  of  it  all  was  that  he  had 
never  connected  the  kicking  with  the 
arm  waving.  One  day  the  nurse  left 
him  hastily  without  a  single  thing  on. 
She  had  been  giving  him  a  warm  cool 
slide  through  some  wind  that  got  into 
his  mouth,  and  made  him  splutter. 
Then  she  left  him  on  the  bed  for  a 
moment  and  went  off  to  look  for  a 
bandage.  He  had  never  felt  so  manly 
before.  He  waved  arms  and  kicked 
legs  to  express  it.  Then,  some  way, 
the  arms  and  legs  came  together  and 
began  to  strike  up  an  acquaintance. 
He  didn't  realize  that  they  were  his 
arms  and  legs  for  a  time.  The  great- 
ness of  the  discovery  had  not  dawned 
on  him.  But,  finally,  he  got  firm  hold 
of  one  foot  and  brought  it  to  his  mouth 
to  test  it  farther.  It  had  much  the 
15 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

same  taste  as  his  fist;  warm  and  soft,  a 
good  deal  like  kisses.  And  then  as  he 
was  chewing  on  it  gently,  all  at  once 
the  discovery  flashed  upon  him.  There 
was  a  curious  tickle,  all  his,  that  ran 
around  from  his  foot  to  his  head.  He 
had  here  his  first  concept  of  the  circle, 
which  is  one  of  the  elements  of  philos- 
ophy. 

He  chewed  and  kicked,  he  was  so 
happy.  But  just  as  he  was  realizing 
that  he  was  kicking  with  only  one  leg, 
and  just  as  he  was  making  desperate 
effort  to  make  the  kicking  and  arm 
waving  that  were  not  already  in  his 
mouth  acquainted  with  each  other  like 
the  rest,  then  who  should  come  floating 
through  space  but  his  very  dear,  cooing 
mother. 

"Why,  nurse,  you  have  left  him 
quite  naked!"  she  cried,  reproachfully. 
16 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

"Why,  look!  He  is  blushing  for 
shame."  She  took  him  up  in  her  apron 
and  began  whirling  space  all  around 
him.  The  bed  flew  up  and  away,  and 
the  disagreeable  windows  jumped  at 
him.  Sister  Jane  was  sitting  slanting 
on  the  wall,  and  up  was  all  mixed  with 
down  and  the  sides.  However,  he  was 
now  used  to  that,  and  did  not  even  cry 
out.  What  hurt  him  the  most  really 
was  the  thought  that  he  might  never 
be  able  to  discover  whether  the  second 
leg  was  his,  like  the  first.  And  what 
hurt  him  next  most  was  the  thought 
that  his  dear  mother  had  told  an 
untruth.  She  had  said  he  was  ashamed 
of  his  nakedness.  And  he  hadn't  been 
ashamed  of  it  at  all,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, had  felt  proud  and  manly. 

The  first  lessons  of  life  are  often  sad 
ones,  when  we  learn  of  the  falsehood 
17 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 


of  the  world.  Noll  was  serious  for 
several  days  afterward,  and  the  wise 
nurse,  pretending  as  ever,  said  in 
nurse-like  superior  fashion,  that  the 
baby  had  taken  a  cold.  Then  she 
blamed  it  on  to  sister  Jane,  who  diso- 
bediently sat  playing  with  her  doll 
when  told  three  times  to  run  for  a 
bandage. 


18 


Ill 

NOLL  had   another  sister,  Catha- 
rine, who  bobbed  up  and  down 
and    said     "boo"     even    faster 
than  his  sister  Jane.     For  a  long  time 
he  thought  they  were  both   one,  but 
gradually  he  reasoned  two  out  of  them. 
Catharine    was    always    eating    some- 
thing.    Her  very  kisses  tasted  of  bread 
and  gooseberry  jam.     She  often  put  a 
morsel  into  his  mouth,  but  it  got  under 
his  tongue  in  little   rough    spots,  and 
19 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

made  him  cough  till  he  was  dizzy. 
Then  Catharine  would  trot  him  and 
pound  him,  till  he  concluded  she  was 
Jane  after  all. 

There  were  also  two  cats  and  three 
dogs  in  the  family.  He  liked  these 
better  than  his  brother  and  sisters,  but 
that  was  to  be  expected,  of  course,  for 
they  understood  his  language,  never 
bothered  by  asking  questions,  and 
were  always  soft  and  warm  for  him  to 
grab. 

His  language  [was  one  orchis  serious 
problems.  He  often  thought  of  it  for 
hours  without"  ever  saying  a  word,  and 
that  is  serious  thinking  indeed.  Many 
conclusions  came  from  the  dogs  and 
the  cats.  Their  language  was  simple 
and  sufficient,  though  from  time  to 
time  he  thought  of  an  improvement. 
Now  it  is  one  of  the  conceits  of  grown 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

people  that  they  teach  their  language 
to  babies;  but  this  is  not  true  at  all. 
Babies  make  their  own  language, 
beginning  with  the  very  first  principles, 
and  developing  it  as  they  have  need. 
The  reason  ..that  it  turns  out  King's 
English  in  the  end  is  that  all  babies  are 
born  English  babies,  except  those  that 
are  born  in  other  countries,  and  natu- 
rally they  must  invent  English,  so 
everything  turns  out  as  it  should,  and 
the  grown-ups  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  This  is  something  the  way  it  begins 
with  the  help  of  the  animals  and 
chickens: 

"Ma!  Ma!  Ma!"  naturally  comes 
first.  That  was  introduced  by  the 
lamb,  and  means  "I  think  I  want  my 
mother,  and  nobody  else  will  quite  do." 
If  the  mother  comes,  and  most  mothers 
do,  that  is  language  enough  for  one 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

day.  The  great  trouble  with  grown 
people  is  that  they  are  always  talking 
too  much.  If,  however,  for  some  unex- 
plainable  reason,  mother  does  not  come 
when  she  should,  why,  then  we  have 
the  cat  for  an  example,  and  call  out 
"Nyah!"  till  she  does  come,  making  it 
very  loud  and  very  long.  The  dog  fur- 
nishes a  third  part  of  language,  which 
may  mean  a  good  many  things.  "Bow! 
wow!  wow!"  it  goes  on  indefinitely 
according  to  the  humor  of  the  speaker. 
Sometimes  it  means  "I'm  a  sad  dog," 
and  sometimes  "You're  a  dog  in  the 
manger,"  but  usually  it  means  "Oh, 
don't  bother  me,  I'm  enjoying  life  in 
dog  fashion,  and  holding  conversation 
with  the  moon."  There  are  other 
words  from  the  chickens,  such  as 
"Tchk,"  or  "Tickle  me  if  you  want  to 
see  me  laugh,"  and  "Quack"  for  "Don't 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

be  so  foolish,"  but  this  properly  belongs 
to  the  study  of  philology,  and  you  will 
get  plenty  of  that  when  you  come  to  go 
to  college,  though  they  do  have  a 
queer  way  of  teaching  it. 

Along  with  the  process  of  talking 
came  the  process  of  sitting  up.  That, 
too,  is  a  great  improvement,  for  it  gives 
a  new  aspect  to  the  world.  A  baby 
gets  dreadfully  tired  of  the  ceiling,  and 
the  few  flies  that  crawl  about  on  it. 
He  is  even  glad  to  have  sister  Jane 
floating  over,  like  a  cloud,  if  she  would 
only  be  content  to  float,  and  not  insist 
on  digging  along  with  it.  But  in  sit- 
ting up  one  sees  all  sorts  of  things. 
The  cats  and  the  dogs  take  new  inter- 
est, and  even  the  cook  is  endurable. 
Then  one  learns  that  other  people  go 
on  all  the  time,  instead  of  being  made 
new  on  each  floating  occasion.  They 
23 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

go  in  and  out  of  holes  in  the  world,  but 
they  sometimes  stay  made  outside, 
though  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  do 
much  out  there,  except,  sometimes,  to 
drum  on  the  windows  or  shout  unintel- 
ligibly to  one  another.  Noll  often 
wished  that  his  mother  had  not  con- 
tracted the  bad  habit  of  staying  long 
hours  on  the  outside.  He  waited  and 
waited  for  her  to  appear,  but  in  time 
he  took  notice  of  his  sister  Jane  who 
sat  in  a  chair  with  her  sewing. 

One  day,  having  nothing  to  do  and 
feeling  strong  in  the  back,  he  com- 
posed a  poem  to  his  sister,  and  thought 
it  hummingly  to  himself.  This  is  the 
first  time  it  has  ever  been  printed,  and 
will  be  a  great  surprise  to  the  scholars, 
for  no  one  ever  knew  it  had  been 
thought. 

Here  it  is: 

24 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Oh,  sister  Jane!    Oh,  sister  Jane! 

Oh,  why  do  you  sit  and  sew? 
It  gives  me  softening  of  the  brain. 
The  cat  is  in  trouble;  the  dog  is  in  pain, 
I  think  from  the  weather  'tis  going  to 
rain, 

And  ever  you  sit  and  sew! 
If  I  had  my  dinner,  I'd  eat  it  again, 

For  time  is  so  stupidly  slow, 
Slow — O — O — slow, 

Time  is  so  stupidly  slow. 

Oh,  Jane,  my  dear,  oh,  Jane,  my  dear, 

Turn  over  and  sit  on  your  head. 
'Twill  take  the  stiffening  out  of  your 

ear, 

The  sewing  will  suffer  a  little,  I  fear, 
No  doubt  the  beginning  will  seem  a  bit 

queer, 

But  blue  is  no  queerer  than  red. 
I'm  tired  of  sitting  and  seeing  you  here, 
25 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Turn  over  and  sit  on  your  head. 

Red — head — head — red, 
Blue  is  no  queerer  than  red. 

We  gather  from  this  early  effort  that 
the  young  genius  was  already  growing 
restless  at  times,  and  longing  for  change 
and  variety.  It  is  one  of  the  first  evi- 
dences of  the  poet. 


IV 

THE  fairies  had  all  gone  off  on  a 
six   months'   celebration   in   the 
forest,  and  Noll  wondered  and 
wondered  where  they  were,  and  why 
they  didn't  come  and  give  him  ideas. 
It  is  a  trick  that  fairies  have  sometimes 
with    poets,  of    leaving    them    in  the 
lurch  when  most  needed,  and  never  so 
much  as  making  an  apology,  or  saying 
a  good-by  at  parting.     Noll  wanted  to 
look  for  them  mightily,  his  legs  fairly 
itched  with  impatience. 
One  day,  when  he  was  watching  the 
27 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

fire,  he  thought  he  saw  some  fairies  in 
the  flames  rising  and  flying  up  the 
black  chimney.  Oh,  if  he  could  get 
there  to  grab  one!  But  sister  Jane,  as 
stupid  as  usual,  had  set  him  down  far 
out  of  reach;  he  was  on  the  floor,  to  be 
sure,  but  a  long  way  from  the  fleeting 
flame-fairies.  Jane  went  out  into  the 
yard  to  help  the  cook  catch  a  chicken, 
and  that  made  the  itching  in  his  legs 
all  the  stronger.  If  he  only  could  get 
over  to  those  fairies  before  they  all 
went  up  in  smoke! 

One  leg  hitched — which  is  just  the 
same  as  itched  down  in  London — one 
leg  hitched  forward  in  its  eagerness, 
and  then  the  other  hitched  after  it  a 
little.  Why  he  was  actually  moving! 
The  flame-fairies  were  getting  nearer 
and  nearer!  Yes,  he  could  hear  them 
laughing  and  whistling,  and  the  flap  of 
28 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

their  wings  crackled  like  paper.  He 
liked  the  warm  haze  that  they  played 
in.  He  would  grab  them  and  hold 
them  in  his  arms.  It  would  be  such 
fun  to  feel  them  struggle,?trying  to  fly 
up  the  black  chimney.  Hitch,  hitch, 
went  the  nervous  legs  excitedly.  Baby 
was  stretching  out  his  arms. 

Just  then  a  curious  thing  happened 
way  off  in  the  deep  shady  woods,  where 
the  fairies  were  sitting  at  theirbanquet. 

"I  feel  uneasy  and  warm,"  said  the 
gnome  mother,  who  was  Noll's  special 
care-taker. 

"How  do  you  feel?"  asked  the  others. 

"Something  scorching  hot  on  my 
face,"  said  the  woman. 

"It's  the  wind  from  the  desert,"  said 
one. 

"It's  a  sun-ray  that's  got  through  the 
leaves,"  said  another. 
29 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

"It's  the  steam  of  this  royal  hot  pud- 
ding," said  a  third. 

"It's  the  curse  of  the  princess,"  said  a 
fourth. 

"I  guess  it's  Noll  at  the  fire,"  said  the 
old  woman,  after  her  thinking,  and 
quick  she  leaped  on  to  her  broomstick 
and  flew  away  leaving  them  eating. 

Sure  enough,  as  she  went  in  the 
kitchen  door  there  was  Noll  close  to 
the  hearth,  his  face  shining  red  in  the 
light  and  the  flames  reflected  in  his 
eyes.  In  a  minute  he  would  be  blaz- 
ing, and  not  a  soul  left  in  the  house. 
Father  and  mother  in  the  churchyard, 
and  cook  and  Jane  chasing  a  chicken. 
Oh,  what  was  the  world  coming  to?  And 
the  fire-imps  crowing  and  clapping. 

The  old  woman  seized  on  Noll's 
skirts  and  doubled  them  tight  around 
his  legs,  arranging  them  so  that  every 
30 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

hitch  he  took  would  tend  to  pull  him 
over  backward.  This  was  the  best  she 
could  do,  for  already  he  was  much 
stronger  than  she  was.  She  knew  it 
would  hold  him  for  a  time,  and  give 
her  a  chance  to  get  help.  Out  she  flew 
into  the  barnyard,  where  cook  was 
holding  up  her  petticoats  and  making 
long  steps  after  the  chicken.  Sister 
Jane  was  watching  at  the  gate,  in  case 
the  chicken  should  fly  over.  How  slow 
they  were  to  be  sure!  Cook's  shoes 
were  too  heavy  to  move  fast,  and  even 
when  the  chicken  should  be  caught 
they  might  stop  to  kill  it,  or  get  breath 
before  going  back  to  the  kitchen. 

Now  what  did  the  old  woman  do, 
who  had  to  think  all  in  a  second?  Just 
this:  she  rode  her  broomstick  up  to 
the  chicken  and  leaped  off  and  astride 
the  chicken's  neck.  Then,  using  the 
3' 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

broomstick  for  a  bit,  she  thrust  it  into 
the  panting  chicken's  mouth  and 
reined  it  right  into  the  kitchen,  where 
it  hid  under  a  bench  by  the  hearth, 
close  to  Noll,  who  was  tugging  at  his 
skirts,  and  all  the  time  looking  at  the  fire. 

"However  did  he  get  there?" 
gasped  the  cook,  grabbing  him  up  in 
an  instant.  "Why,  he  would  have 
burned  his  precious  little  hands.  Jane, 
Jane,  run  and  call  your  mother.  Tell 
her  the  baby  can  creep,  and  almost 
crept  into  the  fire." 

"What  a  disagreeable  cook,"  thought 
Noll  in  the  midst  of  his  screaming.  "I'll 
not  eat  her  sugar  when  she  asks  me." 

Back  in  the  dim,  dark  forest  the 
gnome  mother  was  sitting  at  the  table 
quite  in  her  place  as  before. 

"Was  it  the  wind  from  the  desert?" 
asked  the  first. 

32 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

"Or  a  sun-ray  that  got  through  the 
leaves?"  said  the  second. 

"Or  the  steam  of  this  royal  hot  pud- 
ding?" said  the  third. 

"Or  the  curse  of  the  princess?"  said 
the  fourth. 

"It  was  Noll  and  the  fire,  as  I  said," 
replied  the  gnome  mother,  curtly. 
"Keep  still  and  don't  chatter,  I  tell 
you.  And,  Mumu,  pass  me  more  bee- 
bread.  You  know  I  can't  eat  these 
crusts." 


33 


IT  WAS  a  triumphant  day  for  Noll 
when  he  took  his  first  steps  of  free 
walk.     His    mother    thought    the 
greatest  day  of  his  life  was  when  he  cut 
the  first  tooth,  but  that  didn't  interest 
him.     If  anything  he  would  rather  the 
tooth  had  stayed  where  it  was,  for  it 
tempted  him  to  bite  when   at  supper, 
and  his   mother   always   spanked   him 
for  that.    "What  was  a  tooth  for,"  he 
questioned   inwardly,  "if    not    to    bite 
35 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

with  when  at  supper?  Grown  people 
always  bite  at  their  supper.  Even  sister 
Catharine  is  allowed  to  bite  at  her 
bread  and  gooseberry  jam.  But  when 
I  bite,  just  a  little,  and  that  only  with 
one  tooth,  to  try  it — why,  Catharine 
has  a  dozen  teeth  if  she  has  one,  and 
she  bites  with  them  all  in  a  row,  taking 
a  horseshoe  piece  of  bread  every  time, 
and  licking  more  jam  on  to  it  than 
belongs  before  her  teeth  set  down  on 
it.  Grown  people  are  so  unreasonable 
anyhow,  always  spanking  and  saying, 
'No,  no!  Mamma  whip!  Noll  naughty 
boy!'  "  At  times  he  would  brood  over 
his  wrongs  till  there  was  danger  of 
chronic  melancholy  setting  in,  which  is 
a  disease  very  much  like  the  measles 
when  they  stubbornly  refuse  to  come 
out.  In  the  end  he  found  satisfaction 
in  inventing  an  imaginary  world,  and 
36 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

pretending  that  his  parents  lived  in  it, 
together  with  cook  and  all  the  neigh- 
bors. 

He  pictured  this  world  of  the  grown- 
ups much  as  the  real  world  was  to  him. 
Their  table  he  set  on  high  trees,  far  up 
over  their  heads.  He  just  let  one  cor- 
ner of  the  table-cloth  hang  down,where 
they  might  seize  it  and  pull,  bringing 
down  showers  of  nice  goodies,  enough 
for  the  dogs  and  the  cats.  But  every 
time  that  his  father  looked  at  the 
table-cloth  corner  a  little  wistfully  he, 
Noll,  would  say  in  a  voice  rolling  like 
thunder,  "No,  no!  Noll  spank!  Papa 
naughty!"  and  then  his  father  would 
have  to  sit  down.  In  this,  his  imagi- 
nary world  for  the  grown  folk,  every- 
thing was  enormously  too  large.  He 
made  their  bed  as  big  as  the  smoke- 
house, and  so  arranged  that  when  they 
37 

394866 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

tried  to  get  into  it,  it  would  come  keel- 
ing over  on  rockers,  and  tumble  them 
down  on  their  backs,  striking  its  roof 
on  their  noses.  He  had  the  windows 
high  up,  so  they  couldn't  see  out;  and 
as  for  the  mantel  shelf  and  clock,  he 
put  them  so  far  up  they  couldn't  even 
see  them,  though  he  covered  them 
with  all  sorts  of  pretty  things,  and 
made  the  clock  go  tick-a-tick,  tick, 
with  a  bell  for  each  quarter  of  an  hour, 
and  a  marvelous  mystery  of  winding 
which  he  attended  to  all  himself,  in  a 
way  that  they  couldn't  see  at  all. 
Then,  sometimes,  he,  the  baby,  would 
come  in  and  pick  up  the  cook  or  his 
mother  or  some  of  the  neighbors,  and 
toss  them  up  high  toward  the  ceiling  to 
see  whether  they  would  look  scared  or 
would  laugh.  And  in  case  they  got 
used  to  it  and  tried  to  see  what  was  on 
38 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

the  mantel,  then  he  would  toss  them  so 
fast  they  couldn't  see  anything;  and 
only  would  he  hold  them  still  before  it, 
when,  perhaps  sometimes,  they  were 
crying  and  their  eyes  were  so  full  of 
tears  they  couldn't  see,  when  he  would 
say  playfully  to  them,  "Here,  look  at 
this  pretty  white  lamb.  See  the  pewter 
mug  with  the  King  on  the  handle. 
Hear  the  clock  tick-a-tick,  tick."  And 
just  when  they  stopped  crying  and 
began  to  look  he  would  set  them  down 
on  the  floor,  and  give  them  a  clothes- 
pin. A  hateful  old  clothes-pin  that  they 
had  seen  thousands  of  times  before, 
and  even  tasted  till  the  taste  was  all  off 
of  it.  Then  when  he  wished  for  the 
greatest  of  torments  he^took  them  to 
the  mystery  of  the]  parlor,  a  place 
where  they  couldn't  touch_anything,  or 
even  sit  on  the_  floor,  and  there  he 
39 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

would  hold  them  up  before  a  little 
misty  window,  where  a  little  baby  lived 
all  the  time  —  the  cunningest  little 
brown  fellow,  he  had  never  seen  any- 
thing like  him — and  this  little  baby  in 
the  misty  window  would  kick  and  hold 
out  his  hands,  the  fingers  all  spread 
ready  to  grab  on,  and  he  would  stick 
out  his  eyes  and  open  his  mouth  and 
wiggle  all  over,  he  was  so  happy,  and 
then  when  the  grown  folks  wanted  to 
just  touch  the  baby's  little  soft  fingers, 
he  wouldn't  open  the  window,  though 
the  weather  was  summer  outside.  No, 
he'd  only  let  them  rub  on  the  glass 
where  the  little  baby  rubbed  on  the 
other  side.  And  finally  the  little  baby 
in  the  window  would  want  to  get  them, 
so  he  would  wrinkle  up  his  face  to  cry 
pitifully,  but  he,  Noll,  wouldn't  open 
the  window  for  those  grown-ups;  no, 
40 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

not  for  a  thousand  of  worlds.  No,  they 
might  scream  and  kick  as  much  as 
they  liked,  but  he  would  laugh  at 
them  as  if  it  were  a  joke.  In  this 
way  he  amused  himself  at  times  when 
his  melancholy  was  near  overpower- 
ing. 

As  we  were  saying,  it  was  a  great 
day  for  him  when  he  took  up  an  inter- 
est in  walking.  It  helped  him  to  forget 
other  troubles.  It  kept  his  thoughts  in 
his  legs.  Of  course  he  could  stand  at 
a  chair,  or  holding  on  to  the  bedpost. 
Any  intelligent  baby  can  do  that  if  he 
only  has  confidence  in  his  knees.  Oh, 
yes;  he  had  been  standing  for  weeks, 
standing  at  the  chair  and  at  the  bed- 
post. But  how  to  stand  from  one  to 
the  other — there  was  the  problem  of  a 
lifetime.  It  was  not  that  he  had  not 
thought  it  out,  so  far  as  head  work  is 
41 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

concerned;  all  that  he  had  done  long 
ago,  the  process  was  simple  and  easy. 
He  had  divided  it  into  ten  different 
stages,  which  arranged  themselves 
something  as  follows: 

First  stage:  Let  go  the  chair  with 
one  hand. 

Second  stage:  Let  go  the  chair  with 
the  other  hand. 

Third  stage:  Let  go  the  chair  with 
both  hands.  This  was  something 
dreadful  to  think  of! 

Fourth  stage:     Draw  a  long  breath. 

Fifth  stage:  Don't  put  a  hand  on 
the  chair. 

Sixth  stage:     Count  three  slowly. 

Seventh  stage:  Put  out  one  foot 
toward  the  bed. 

Eighth  stage:  Spread  the  arms 
gently,  but  ready  to  grab  on  to  the 
chair. 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

Ninth  stage:  Put  out  another  foot 
toward  the  bedpost. 

Tenth  stage:  Forget  all  about  the 
chair  and  go. 

Yes,  the  method  of  his  reasoning 
was  good,  but  he  could  never  get 
beyond  the  third  stage.  That  place 
he  stuck  every  time.  He  could  let  go 
the  chair  with  one  hand.  Then  let  go 
the  chair  with  the  other  hand.  But 
when  it  came  to  letting  go  the  chair 
with  both  hands — it  made  his  heart 
thump  to  think  of  it.  In  the  end  he 
always  sat  down  and  hitched  his 
way  over  to  the  bedpost.  It  was  a 
dear  old  bedpost,  and  he  loved  it. 
Loved  it  'most  as  much  as  the  chair, 
it  stood  so  steady  and  firm.  Still, 
the  chair  had  the  advantage  of  shov- 
ing. If  he  could  only  get  back  to  the 
chair!  If  he  could  only  walk  back  to 
43 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

the  chair!  He  began  his  reasoning 
again: 

First  stage:  Let  go  the  chair — no, 
the  bedpost — with  one  hand. 

Second  stage:  Let  go  the  bedpost 
with  the  other  hand.  Gracious!  he 
forgot  to  grab  back  quickly  with  the 
one  hand,  and  found  himself  standing 
alone!  He  had  to  sit  down  on  the 
floor  just  to  think  of  it.  And  then — he 
hitched  over  to  the  chair. 

It  was  his  brother  Henry  who  did  it. 
He  would  never  have  suspected  it  of 
brother  Henry.  He  had  always  trusted 
brother  Henry.  Now  he  could  never 
love  him  quite  the  same  any  more;  not 
even  when  they  were  old  men  together. 
He  tried  to  think  how  it  would  be  with 
a  different  brother  Henry  who  was 
ready  to  betray  him  at  the  most  critical 
moment.  He  had  got  used  to  the  other 
44 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

one,  and  he  didn't  like  to  change.  It 
came  about  in  this  way,  though  he 
was  ashamed  to  think  of  it  for  years 
afterward — to  think  that  his  triumph 
should  be  a  disgrace,  and  all  on 
account  of  brother  Henry.  You  see, 
he  had  got,  after  several  days'  practice, 
he  had  got  past  the  third  stage  of  walk- 
ing. He  was  able  to  let  go  with  both 
hands.  Well,  one  day  he  was  standing 
by  the  chair,  looking  toward  the  bed- 
post as  usual,  he  had  even  drawn  a 
long  breath,  he  had  not  put  back  either 
hand,  he  was  preparing  to  count 
three  very  "softly,  so  as  not  to  flutter 
his  legs, — when  brother  Henry  slipped 
up  behind  him  and  slyly  took  the 
chair  quite  away.  Noll  looked  back  at 
the  noise,  saw  the  chair  gone,  walked 
right  over  to  the  bedpost  and  sat  down 
and  cried  like  a  baby.  He  had  walked. 
45 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

His  triumph  was  accomplished.  But 
walked  because  he  couldn't  help  it. 
Tricked  into  it  by  dear  brother  Henry. 
Brother  Henry  who  had  broken  his 
heart. 


46 


VI 


^  I  ^HE  fairies  were  certainly  a  com- 

JL       fort  to  him  when  everyone  else 

had  turned  traitor.     They  came 

back  from  their  feast  in  the  forest  after 

stuffing  themselves  for  a  fortnight,  and 

though   they  were   a  bit   stupid   from 

overeating  and  the  gnome  mother  had 

five  different  kinds  of  indigestion,  still 

47 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

they  were  useful  to  him,  and  he  was 
thankful  to  have  them  around  him. 

It  was  about  this  time  in  his  history 
that  his  mother  and  some  of  the 
women,  her  neighbors,  constructed  an 
instrument  of  torture  that  they  chose 
to  apply  every  Sunday,  probably  to 
teach  him  patience  and  endurance, 
though  it  may  have  been  for  some 
other  reason.  The  matter  was  never 
explained  to  him  clearly,  in  fact  they 
did  not  offer  him  the  slightest  explana- 
tion. The  instrument  was  stiff  and 
gleaming  white,  and  in  shape  not 
unlike  his  flannel  jackets  and  dresses. 
There  were  two  sleeves  for  his  hands 
to  go  in,  and  little  teeth  in  them  to 
chew  on  his  wrists.  Then  a  saw-collar 
was  buttoned  around  his  throat  so 
tight  he  could  hardly  turn  his  head. 
The  collar  was  perforated  like  a  colan- 
48 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

der,  and  pointed  with  a  hundred  little 
spikes  like  fences  that  small  boys  have 
to  climb  over,  only  this  fence  was 
turned  bottom  side  up.  Below  the  col- 
lar and  the  sleeves  the  instrument  went 
on  down  for  some  distance.  There 
must  have  been  more  perforations  at 
the  bottom  from  the  winds  that  got 
in  to  his  legs.  He  could  never  look 
down  to  see  what  was  really  there,  for 
the  saw-collar  caught  him  below  the  ears 
and  dug  and  scratched  like  the  kitten 
if  he  even  so  much  as  rolled  his  eyes. 

There  was  something  connected  with 
religion  about  this  instrument  of  tor- 
ture. He  got  his  first  hint  of  it  from 
listening  to  his  father  once  reading 
about  such  things  in  the  history  of  the 
Spanish  inquisition.  He  knew,  too, 
that  it  had  to  do  with  religion  because 
it  was  always  applied  to  him  on  Sun- 
49 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

days.  He  thought  for  a  time  it  made 
him  into  an  idol,  which  is  something  of 
wood,  and  very  stiff,  and  probably  has 
been  made  so  by  saw-collars  worn  for 
many  years  of  Sundays.  What  made 
him  think  more  he  was  an  idol  was 
that  the  women  all  began  to  worship 
as  soon  as  the  instrument  was  on  him. 
They  knelt  down  before  him  and 
kissed  him  somewhere,  the  saw-collar 
not  letting  him  see  where,  and  they 
said  "too  sweet!"  and  "too  cunning!" 
and  everything  beginning  with  "too." 
Then  they  invariably  asked  for  his  age, 
something  that  hadn't  the  slightest 
interest  for  him,  and  after  they  had 
tickled  his  feet,  an  attention  that  he 
always  resented,  they  went  away  and 
left  him  to  keep  on  becoming  an  idol, 
growing  more  and  more  wooden  every 
Sunday,  stiffer,  and  stiffer,  and  stiffer. 
50 


NOL'L   and  the  FAIRIES 

It  was  several  Sundays  before  he 
learned  his  mistake,  and  concluded  he 
was  not  an  idol  at  all.  It  came  about 
from  hearing  his  father  reading  again. 
His  father  used  to  read  every  Sunday 
in  a  loud  bellowing  voice  that  made 
him  sleepy.  Still,  he  knew  he  should 
pay  attention,  as  we  all  should,  you 
know,  when  father  reads.  Noll  always 
wanted  to  improve  his  mind  from  the 
first;  besides,  the  saw-collar  kept  him 
awake.  Well,  his  father  was  reading 
one  Sunday,  and  he  said  those  who 
worshiped  idols  were  heathens.  Now 
Noll  knew  his  mother  was  no  heathen, 
for  a  heathen  is  what  the  cat  is  when 
he  steals  the  liver  out  of  the  pantry, 
and  the  cook  runs  after  him  to  get  it 
back.  "Tom,  you  heathen!"  screams 
the  cook,  and  then  Tom  drops  the  liver 
he  is  dragging  and  hurries  into  the 


NOLL  and   the  FAIRIES 

orchard,  no  doubt  to  worship  some 
idol,  though  Noll  had  not  thought  of  it 
before.  Anyway,  his  mother  never 
stole  liver  from  the  pantry  and,  there- 
fore, she  was  no  heathen,  and  as  only 
heathens  worship  idols,  he  could  not  be 
an  idol.  It  took  him  a  long  time  to 
think  this  out,  but  he  had  to  keep 
thinking  at  something.  It  was  the  only 
thing  he  could  do  on  Sundays  that  the 
collar  couldn't  catch  him  at  and  stop 
him.  You  see  even  saw-collars  have 
their  advantages,  though  it  is  said  they 
overtax  the  brain.  Certain  it  is  that 
when  applied  to  grown  people  continu- 
ously the  victim  is  quite  senseless  in 
the  end,  and  unable  to  think  to  take 
them  off. 

Well,   now  you   know  all  about  the 
saw-collar,  it  is  time  for  the  fairies  to 
come  in.     Noll  wanted  them  to  come 
52 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

in  long  before  they  did,  but  they  were 
stuffing  themselves  with  seed-cakes  in 
the  forest.  Early  one  Sunday  morning 
they  held  a  long  council  on  the  tea- 
kettle, that  cook  had  left  standing 
by  the  hearth.  The  gnome  mother 
presided  on  the  spout,  and  the  little 
gnomes  sat  reflectively  on  the  handle. 

Said  the  gnome  mother,  with  her 
hand  over  her  stomach,  as  if  expecting 
a  new  symptom  any  minute,  "Gnome 
people,  how  can  we  help  Noll  and  free 
him  from  this  instrument  of  torture? 
This  is  really  a  trap  of  the  princess. 
She  will  catch  him  and  hold  him  in  it 
conscious,  till  he  is  vain  with  thinking 
of  himself,  till  he  will  listen  to  the 
whisperings  of  her  people.  I  fear 
harm  has  already  been  done,  for  poets 
are  susceptible  to  vanity." 

The  gnomes  sat  thinking  in  silence, 
53 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

not  so  much  as  saying  one  word.  They 
winked  five  times  all  together,  and 
wondered  what  they  could  say. 

At  length  one  old  gnome  rose  up 
and  smoothed  out  the  crick  in  his  back. 
He  was  dressed  in  an  armor  of  rubies, 
and  wore  a  green  cap  on  his  head. 
"Most  worshipful  gnome  mother,"  he 
began,  "this  is  a  matter  of  great  seri- 
ousness before  us."  He  stopped  here  to 
let  all  be  impressed.  He  had  hoped 
that  when  he  had  said  this  he  would 
think  of  something  else  to  say,  but  not 
a  thing  entered  his  head.  So  he  began 
again:  "Most  excellent  and  worshipful 
gnome  mother  (applause  from  all  the 
gnomes),  this  is  a  matter  of  grave  seri- 
ousness before  us." 

"Hear,  hear,  hear!"  exclaimed  the 
listeners  in  chorus;  but  there  wasn't 
anything  to  hear,  for  the  crick  came 
54 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

again  in  the  gnome's  back,  and  he 
began  groaning  and  gasping  and 
grunting,  and  all  the  little  gnomes 
gathered  about,  though  they  suspected 
why  the  crick  had  come,  but  they 
offered  him  advice  and  consolation  as 
if  he  really  had  a  speech  in  his  head. 
One  of  them  told  him  to  drink  an 
elder-flower  of  tea  every  morning,  and 
another  said  he  had  too  much  bone-set. 
The  gnome  mother  was  very  much 
interested  because  his  symptoms  were 
precisely  like  her  third  stage  of  indi- 
gestion, and  she  was  this  moment  pass- 
ing through  the  sixth.  In  the  end,  the 
crick  was  let  alone  and  the  old  gnome 
was  placed  on  the  knob  in  the  middle 
of  the  cover  of  the  teakettle  and 
elected  vice-president  of  the  meeting 
because  of  his  powerful  speech.  Then 
the  gnome  mother  called  the  council  to 
55 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

order,  and  said  that  each  member 
should  speak  now  in  turn,  offering  the 
first  suggestion  that  popped  into  his 
head,  and  limiting  his  speech,  every 
one,  to  one  ten-thousandth  of  a  second. 
She  held  her  stop-watch  in  -  her  hand 
and  called  on  each  gnome-imp  by 
name.  The  secretary's  report  was  like 
this: 

Gnome  Mother. — "Buttons!" 

Buttons. — "Saw  off  Noll's  head  with 
the  collar  and  his  mother  will  saw  the 
collar  off." 

Gnome  Mother.  —  "Too  violent! 
Skweege!" 

Skweege. — "Turn  the  apron  bottom 
side  up.  Button  the  collar  tight 
around  Noll's  ankles,  and  fill  the 
whole  thing  up  with  bran." 

Gnome  Mother. — "A  valuable  sugges- 
tion. The  bran  would  deaden  the 
56 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

shock.  But  why  not  use  oatmeal 
instead  of  bran,  as  oatmeal  is  said  to 
be  healing?  Prinks!" 

Prinks. — "I  have  written  a  poem  for 
the  occasion." 

Gnome  Mother. — "Read  it." 

Prinks  reads: 

A  flea  had  borrowed  a  blunderbuss 
To  shoot  at  a  toy  balloon 
Too  soon!     Too  soon! 
The  farmer  he  aimed  from  made  such 

a  fuss 

With  scratching  and  telling  his  abacus, 
The  flea  got  his  legs  tied  up  in  a  muss 

And  blackened  an  eye  of  the  moon. 
The  bullfinch  swallowed  the   blunder- 
buss 

And  fainted  away  in  a  swoon, 
Prune,  loon,  spoon,  noon, 
And  all  of  the  rhymes  for  swoon. 
57 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

"Let  the  secretary  record  the  poem 
in  the  seconds,"  said  gnome  mother, 
"for  minutes  are  too  long  to  write  in 
the  fairy  world." 

"Hear!  hear!  hear!"  screamed  all  the 
gnomes,  rattling  their  feet.  They  for- 
got that  they  had  heard  already. 

"Silence,"  called  out  the  gnome 
mother. 

"Mumu  is  pinching  me,"  cried 
Skweege. 

"He  applauded  on  my  foot,"  replied 
Mumu. 

"A  quarrel!  a  quarrel!"  screamed  all, 
dancing  and  throwing  up  their  caps. 

Just  then  the  cook  came  along  and 
picked  up  the  teakettle  to  fill  it,  tum- 
bling them  all  on  to  the  floor  in  a  little 
pile  of  flying  arms  and  legs. 

Gnome  mother  flew  away  disgusted, 
leaving  them  all  in  charge  of  Ruby. 
58 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

She  sat  down  on  the  pendulum  of  the 
clock,  which  was  the  best  she  could  do 
for  a  rocking  chair.  "Whatever  am  I 
to  do  about  Noll?"  she  kept  saying 
over  and  over.  "Those  gnome-imps 
are  all  so  unpractical." 

A  wasp  came  along  by  the  pendulum, 
flying  with  his  mouth  full  of  mud.  He 
was  building  his  house  in  the  clock, 
and  mud  was  his  building  material. 

"Stop  a  minute,"  called  gnome 
mother,  imperatively,  holding  up  one 
hand  of  her  stop-watch. 

The  wasp  took  the  mud  from  his 
mouth  and  tucked  it  under  his  left 
wing.  Then  he  drew  an  extra'stinger 
from  his  pocket — he  always  kept  one 
handy  for  repairs — and  began  picking 
the  sand  from  his  teeth. 

"At  your  service,"  he  bowed  with  a 
flourish,  waving  his  disengaged  wing. 
59 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

"Fly  over  and  light  on  the  cook's 
thumb,  the  one  on  the  handle  of  the 
teakettle,"  commanded  gnome  mother. 
"But  mind  and  no  foolishness  of  sting- 
ing." 

Now  the  cook  was  filling  the  tea- 
kettle with  water  at  the  water  pail,  and 
directly  under  her  elbow  and  hanging 
over  the  back  of  a  chair  was  Noll's 
best  Sunday  white  dress,  freshly 
starched  and  ironed  for  that  morn- 
ing. 

"Och!  A  wasp!  A  wasp!"  screamed 
the  cook,  dropping  the  teakettle  and 
upsetting  the  chair.  "Och,  Mary!  I 
thought  I  was  stung!"  and  she  ran 
away  into  the  pantry  and  hid  herself  in 
a  corner  behind  the  flour-barrel. 

Meanwhile  the  teakettle  being  left  to 
its  own  devices  and  being  quite  too 
full  to  be  sober,  had  gone  off  on  a  ter- 
60 


NOLL   and  the  FAI  RIES 

rible  spree,  rolling  and  hiccoughing 
like  the  schoolmaster  after  a  day  at  the 
fair.  It  staggered  about  tipsily  on 
the  sink,  and  finally  tumbled  off  the 
edge  lurching  to  the  floor  with  a  crash, 
where  it  struck  square  on  the  white 
dress  from  the  chairback  that  had  only 
arrived  there  that  minute,  planting  its 
black  feet  on  the  front  and  rolling 
helplessly  all  over.  Then,  as  if  this 
were  not  bad  enough,  and  no  doubt 
made  to  feel  very  sick  from  falling 
such  a  terrible  distance,  it  threw  up 
great  mouthfuls  of  water  all  over  the 
prickly  saw-collar  making  it  as  limp  as 
a  string.  When  mother  came  running 
into  the  kitchen  there  was  the  white 
dress  quite  ruined.  Noll  wore  no  saw- 
collar  that  week.  In  fact  its  teeth  were 
never  so  sharp  from  that  time.  Its 
spirit  was  evidently  broken  from  being 
61 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

found  in  such  low  company  as  the  tea- 
kettle. 

"Thank  you!"  said  the  gnome 
mother,  graciously,  as  the  wasp  flew 
back  with  his  mud. 


VII 

IT  IS  a  sad  time  in  life  when  we  are 
forced  to  give  up  that  to  which  we 
have  long  been  accustomed.  Noll 
had  been  accustomed  to  a  special  and 
private  feeding  place  for  something 
over  a  year,  in  fact  throughout  his 
whole  lifetime;  and  then,  without  a 
word  of  warning,  he  was  suddenly  told 
to  give  it  up.  He  crawled  behind  the 
door  to  think  it  over.  Something  had 
got  to  be  done. 

It  probably  all  came  about  from  his 
63 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

having  used  his  new  teeth  so  freely. 
He  knew  it  was  risky  when  he  did  it, 
but  new  teeth  are  such  interesting 
utensils.  Just  now,  when  the  punish- 
ment was  on  him,  he  would  willingly 
have  pulled  the  teeth  out.  Indeed  he 
did  pull  on  one  softly,  but  it  stuck  fast 
and  wouldn't  budge  an  inch.  Sister 
Catharine  came  along  and  offered  him 
some  bread  and  gooseberry  jam,  but  he 
felt  so  insulted  at  the  substitute  that 
when  she  held  it  up  to  his  mouth  to 
bite,  he  bit  into  her  hand  instead  and 
off  she  went  screaming  to  mother,  mix- 
ing her  tears  with  her  jam.  No  mat- 
ter, Catharine  shouldn't  bother  him, 
especially  when  he  was  thinking.  His 
stomach  felt  as  savage  as  his  teeth. 
They  gave  him  such  mixtures  to  put  in 
it.  No  wonder  it  kept  chewing  and 
biting. 

64 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Grown  people  have  a  queer  way  of 
eating.  It's  curious  how  pleased  they 
are  with  it.  For  example,  if  they  want 
to  eat  milk  they  put  a  hard  cold  ridge 
into  the  mouth  and  let  the  milk  spill 
gradually  out  over.  There  is  nothing 
at  all  to  guide  the  milk  in,  and  plenty 
to  make  it  run  out.  Most  of  it  gathers 
on  the  chin  and  trickles  down  the  out- 
side of  the  neck.  Always  by  the  time 
it  has  got  to  the  end  of  the  neck  it  is 
chilly  and  soppy  and  wet.  Then  the 
upper  side  of  the  hard  ridge  strikes  on 
the  bridge  of  the  nose,  and  makes  one 
cough  up  the  few  drops  he  has  swal- 
lowed. Altogether  it  is  a  disagreeable 
process,  though  one  isn't  satisfied  with- 
out it. 

Noll  thought  it  all  over  carefully  and 
finally  made  up  his  mind.  The  trouble 
was  he  had  been  too  good-natured. 
65 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

From  this  on  he  would  always  be  firm. 
He  took  a  solemn  vow,  there  behind 
the  door,  that  not  a  morsel  or  drop 
should  pass  his  lips  unless  it  came  in 
the  proper  way.  Something  soft  and 
sticky  was  in  his  hand  as  he  clenched 
it  in  making  the  vow.  He  looked  to 
see  what  it  was,  and  found  it  was  a 
wad  of  Catharine's  bread  and  jam 
mixed.  He  ate  it  down  heartily  at 
once.  It  would  give  him  strength  to 
keep  his  vow.  Then  he  came  out  from 
behind  the  door  and  sat  about  waiting 
for  battle. 

Cook  began  it,  as  usual.  "Jane,  it's 
time  Noll  had  his  milk.  Run  and  get 
the  mug  from  the  hearth." 

Jane  brought   the   mug   as   she  was 

bid,  and    began  that  artificial   smiling 

that   people   use    when    they  want   to 

fool  babies.    "Noll  hungry?"  she  said 

66 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

sweet  as  sugar.  "Nice  milk  —  warm, 
warm." 

Noll  put  his  hands  tight  behind  him. 
He  took  no  interest  in  the  affair. 

Jane  held  the  mug  up  toward  his 
mouth. 

In  reply  to  this  he  turned  his  head 
square  around  so  quick,  so  quick  it 
made  his  neck  snap,  and  sister  Jane, 
instead  of  putting  the  mug  to  his 
mouth  as  she  intended,  was  holding  it 
to  the  back  of  his  ear. 

Then  he  wagged  his  head  back  and 
forth  as  hard  and  fast  as  he  could. 
That  meant,  "No;  go  away." 

"Let  him  take  it  in  his  own  hands," 
suggested  cook,  who  was  always  stand- 
ing about  when  she  shouldn't. 

Jane  put  the  mug  in  his  hands,  and 
no  sooner  was  it  felt  in  his  grasp  than 
it  seemed  to  turn  into  a  weapon,  and 
67 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

he  hurled  it  milk  and  all  across  the 
room,  though  the  milk  didn't  go  so  far 
as  the  mug.  Sister  Jane  went  off  for  a 
towel,  and  cook  for  a  mop  and  some 
water.  His  vow  was  working  out 
finely.  Then  his  mother  came  in  and 
took  him  up  in  her  arms. 

Now  his  mother  was  the  one  person 
in  the  world  who  knew  how  to  feed 
him  properly,  and  he  thought  that  he 
had  her  convinced.  But  when  he 
stretched  out  his  arms  and  tried  to  tear 
her  hateful  old  dress,  she  took  away 
his  hands  and  held  them  fast,  and  even 
held  him  far  away  from  her,  so  he 
couldn't  bunt  with  his  head.  He  could 
kick  with  his  feet,  however,  and  he  set 
to  work  lively  with  them.  Then  when 
his  mother  held  his  legs,  his  teeth  were 
free  to  get  at  her  hand  and  he  bit  her 
as  hard  as  he  could.  While  he  was 
68 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

revolving  like  a  windmill  and  scream- 
ing to  increase  the  confusion,  who 
should  come  in  but  his  father — his 
father  who  was  so  grave  and  so 
stern. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  said  his  father. 
And  he  decided  to  listen  to  what  else 
his  father  should  say. 

His  mother  began  explaining  the 
trouble,  and  he  pitied  himself  so  much 
at  hearing  the  story  that  he  began  to 
weep  in  good  earnest. 

"Silence!"  commanded  the  father. 

Noll  silenced  to  listen  for  a  moment, 
and  then  remembering  his  vow,  began 
again. 

"Jane,  bring  me  a  cup  of  milk,"  said 
the  father. 

"There  is  no  more  warm,"  said  the 
cook. 

"Cold,  then,"  said  the  father,  not 
69 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

relenting.  His  voice  was  as  cold  as 
the  milk. 

Noll  tried  to  listen  and  cry  too, 
though  the  crying  was  sometimes  for- 
gotten. 

"Now,  I'll  show  you  how  to  teach  a 
baby  to  drink,"  said  the  father,  talking 
like  the  schoolmaster  in  school  with 
cook  and  Jane  and  mother  for  chil- 
dren. He  picked  Noll  up  very  for- 
mally and  planted  him  securely  on  his 
knee.  Then  he  held  the  mug  to  his 
mouth. 

Noll  naturally  didn't  like  being  used 
as  apparatus  for  his  father  to  illustrate 
a  lecture.  He  set  his  teeth  and  mut- 
tered inside.  He  would  never  open  his 
mouth. 

But  father  pried  it  open  with  his  fin- 
ger. Teeth  wouldn't  bite  into  his 
ringer.  It  was  altogether  too  hard  and 
70 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

too  tough.  The  jaws  did  open  cau- 
tiously for  trial  but  on  opening,  the 
finger  slipped  in,  turning  and  catching 
like  a  fishhook  fast  in  his  poor  little 
gills. 

But  if  father  would  play  at  being 
fisherman  Noll  would  have  advantage 
of  being  fish.  He  flopped  from  the 
middle  of  his  back,  striking  with  both 
feet  in  tail  fashion,  a  blow  that  caught 
father  on  the  windpipe  just  behind 
where  his  whiskers  hung  down.  There 
was  time  for  but  one  flop,  however,  for 
a  great  hand  came  down  on  his  breast, 
pinning  him  flat  with  its  force.  Then 
the  cup  poured  milk  into  his  mouth, 
gurgling,  filling  up,  and  flowing  over;  it 
was  much  in  the  manner  of  brother 
Henry  when  he  drowns  out  a  gopher 
from  a  hole.  Only  in  this  case  the 
gopher-hole  didn't  stay  in  one  place, 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

but  bobbed  about  fast  as  it  could  and 
the  milk,  in  trying  to  follow,  spouted 
out  all  over  Noll's  face  and  thence  off 
onto  father's  black  breeches  which 
happened  to  be  his  Sunday  second 
best.  There  the  milk  stream  sank  out 
of  sight  like  a  brook  that  flows  into 
a  bog,  though  father  didn't  seem  to 
lose  track  of  it  for  all  that,  but  kept 
pinching  the  bog  place  and  lower 
down,  as  if  the  stream  might  still  be 
flowing  under  the  surface,  as  streams 
in  bogs  are  sometimes  thought  to  do. 
In  time  the  milk  supply  was  exhausted 
and  Noll  had  not  swallowed  a  spoon- 
ful, unless  you  count  a  few  drops  that 
flew  about  in  his  lungs  and  mixed 
coughs  with  the  righteous  indignation 
that  was  burning  in  his  pinioned  little 
breast.  His  spirit,  however,  was  not 
conquered.  It  chanted  the  chant  of 
72 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

the  victor.    It  could  soar,  though  he  lay 
on  his  back. 

But  this  was  not  the  end  of  the  story, 
notwithstanding  it  was  the  end  of  the 
milk.  He  found  himself  suddenly 
reversed,  eyes  staring  at  the  boards  of 
the  floor — there  was  a  knot-hole  in  one 
of  the  boards  and  it  was  filled  up  with 
a  plug.  The  wood  was  worn  away  all 
around  it.  He  remembered  that  knot- 
hole for  years.  At  first  he  thought  his 
father  was  beaten.  At  all  events  the 
milk  was  given  up.  He  was  congratu- 
lating himself  that  the  storm  had 
blown  over,  when  he  felt  a  sudden 
change  in  the  wind.  A  cold  breeze 
had  struck  him  in  the  rear,  had  caught 
him  without  even  an  umbrella  and 
blown  off  his  last  thickness  of  cotton, 
leaving  him  to  the  mercy  of  the  ele- 
ments. Then  it  appeared  that  the 
73 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

storm  instead  of  being  over  had  just 
broken  with  unparalleled  fury.  It  fell 
in  loud  swift  claps  of  thunder,  and  the 
lightning  went  prickling  all  through 
him,  radiating  from  his  mountains  to 
his  valleys — as  for  mountains  they  were 
raging  volcanoes,  and  what  was  worse, 
they  were  flattening  into  prairies,  they 
seemed  melting  and  extending  all  over. 
He  was  getting  flatter  and  thinner 
every  clap,  or  better  say,  each  fresh 
peal  of  thunder.  He  was  becoming 
like  electrified  paper,  crackling  and 
rustling  in  the  tempest. 

He  thought  he  was  killed  and  left 
for  dead  when  his  father  put  him  down 
on  the  floor.  But,  alas!  he  was  still 
alive  to  torture.  He  lay  fairly  radiat- 
ing energy,  sound,  electricity,  and 
motion;  yes,  even  a  dull  light  came 
from  him,  two  dull  glowing  volcanic 
74 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

fires.  The  worst  was  he  was  left  quite 
alone.  Father,  cook,  no  one,  to  appre- 
ciate. It  was  discouraging  to  radiate 
always  with  no  sympathetic  body  to 
reflect  back  the  heat.  He  radiated  for 
some  time,  however,  from  the  simple 
necessity  of  expansion.  Then  he 
stopped  crying,  only  for  a  minute,  just 
to  listen  to  hear  if  anyone  were  mov- 
ing. It  occurred  to  him  that  the  rest 
might  have  been  killed  in  the  storm, 
and  he  cried  in  pity  for  his  lonely  con- 
dition. Then  he  listened  again. 

No;  as  he  held  his  breath  between 
sobs,  there  was  the  sound  of  cook  walk- 
ing in  the  pantry.  Tramp,  tramp, 
tramp  —  her  heavy  shoes  —  back  and 
forth  as  usual  at  her  work.  She 
seemed  quite  unruffled  by  the  whirl- 
wind. Was  it  possible  he  was  the  only 
one  turned  over?  In  time  she  came 
75 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

out  into  the  kitchen  and  gave  him  a 
pleasant  little  nod.  Could  it  be  she 
had  forgotten  already?  He  watched 
her,  then  followed  her  slyly.  Some 
way  he  was  feeling  better  inside. 
There  had  been  such  a  burning  in  his 
heart,  and  now  it  was  quite  gone  away. 
His  father  had  drawn  it  out  to  the  sur- 
face, and  it  had  all  burned  down  to 
cool  ashes,  prickly  but  pleasant  and 
restful,  like  the  taste  of  the  school- 
master's beer. 

Cook  poured  some  nice  milk  into  a 
mug — a  pretty  mug  with  red  flowers 
upon  it.  There  was  something  about 
those  red  flowers  that  was  very  attrac- 
tive. They  didn't  look  like  anything 
that  grew  on  the  window-ledge.  He 
wondered  how  they  came  to  have  that 
color.  He  sidled  around  the  mug  and 
watched  it  interestedly.  It  seemed  just 
76 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

the  right  kind  for  cook  to  handle.  He 
liked  to  watch  her  pour  the  white  milk 
into  it.  He  wished  he  were  that  mug 
and  full  of  that  milk.  It  seemed  so 
comfortable  and  easy. 

Then  cook  came  smiling  to  help  him, 
but  this  time  not  smiling  artificially. 
He  loved  the  old  cook  after  all.  "Noll 
want  his  milk  now?"  she  said. 

She  took  him  up  in  her  lap  and 
helped  him  to  hold  the  mug  steady. 
Really,  he  got  on  very  well.  He  was 
sorry  when  the  bottom  began  to  show. 
Then  cook  gave  him  a  nice  lump  of 
sugar  and  he  went  off  to  play  with  the 
cat. 

It  was  fully  a  half  an  hour  after 
when  he  happened  to  think  of  the  vow, 
and  how  he  had  resolved  to  be  firm. 
Then  he  was  so  vexed  that  he  tried  to 
feel  sick  and  throw  the  milk  up  again 
77 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

for  principle's   sake,  but  somehow  he 
couldn't  make  it  come. 

Vows   are   disagreeable   things   any- 
way, especially  after  they  are  broken. 


VIII 

THE     great     difference     between 
poets    and    prosy   people    is   in 
the   kind    of    things    that    they 
want.     Prosies  want  only  such   things 
as  other  people  have  in  a  little  more 
expensive  material.     Poets  want  every- 
thing on   earth,   and   mostly   in    good 
time  they  get  it.     More  than  that,  they 
want  everything  over  the   earth,   and 
everything  under,  just  to  try  it.     And 
79 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

mostly  they  get  all  that,  too,  especially 
everything  under. 

Noll  was  a  poet,  as  we  know.  Sister 
Jane  and  cook  and  his  mother,  to- 
gether with  Catharine  and  the  neigh- 
bors, were  all  prosies,  of  course. 
They  wanted  what  other  people  had. 
Brother  Henry,  being  a  boy,  didn't 
count.  Boys  are  always  exceptions, 
though  never  exceptionally  good  so 
far  as  we  can  gather  from  statistics. 

Sister  Jane  was  always  very  good. 
You  can  tell  by  the  things  that  she 
wanted.  Here  is  her  list: 

1.  Candy. 

2.  Rewards  of  merit  every  Sunday. 

3.  A  new  dress  like  Nelly  Murphy's, 

but  with  pink  ribbons  on  the 
shoulders,  instead  of  green.  She 
was  not  near  so  black  as  Nelly, 
but  she  would  never  think  of 
80 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

wearing  green.   As  for  Nelly,  she 
looked  like  a  fright. 

4.  A  gilt-edged   prayer-book   at  con- 

firmation. 

5.  A  wash  that  will  take  off  freckles. 

6.  A  pair  of  new  shoes. 

7.  A  prince  to  ask  for  a  glass  of  water 

and  to  fall  in  love  with  her  at 
first  sight. 

8.  A  canary  all  of  her  own. 

9.  A  black   devil   to   torture    brother 

Henry  every  time  he  came  round 
to  tease. 
10.  And, 

Two  little  angels  beside  her  bed, 
One  at  the  foot  and  one  at  the  head. 

Catharine's    list  was    much    shorter 
than  Jane's.    Probably  because  she  was 
shorter  with  it.     Only  three  things: 
81 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

1.  More  gooseberry  jam  on  her  bread. 

2.  Hair  that  is  loose  at   both   ends, 

and    can    be    taken    off    to    be 
combed. 

3.  A    doll    with     real     meat    inside 

instead  of  sawdust. 
Noll's  list  just  went  on  forever.  The 
whole  of  this  book  wouldn't  hold  it. 
He  wanted  everything  he  saw.  He 
wanted  to  touch  it,  to  hold  it  in  his 
hands,  to  listen  to  it,  to  see  if  it 
ticked,  to  smell,  and  to  taste,  and  to 
swallow.  After  he  had  wanted  all  the 
things  he  had  seen,  he  wanted  to  see 
all  the  things  that  he  heard  of,  or  felt, 
or  smelled,  or  tasted.  Cook  said  he 
was  a  dirty  little  pig  because  he  took 
the  tarts  out  of  his  mouth  after  chew- 
ing them  to  see  what  the  sour  taste 
looked  like.  He  even  wanted  things 
he  couldn't  see,  or  hear,  or  taste,  or 
82 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

smell,  or  anything.  For  example,  his 
mother  told  him  about  angels,  and  he 
cried  for  one  to  hold  it  in  his  arms. 
His  father  showed  him  a  picture  of 
Satan,  and  immediately  he  wished  for 
a  tail,  and  went  out  behind  the  house 
and  felt  his  back  to  see  if  a  little  tail 
might  not  be  sprouting.  When  he 
found  there  was  nothing  there  at  all  he 
cried  because  he  could  not  have  Satan 
come  up  and  show  him  his  tail.  His 
mother  said  it  was  very,  very  wicked. 

Oh,  he  wanted  just  everything!  He 
wanted  the  moon,  so  as  to  kiss  it.  It 
was  sorry,  and  had  tears  on  its  face. 
When  it  became  a  hook  he  wanted  it 
to  go  back  to  a  platter,  and  when  it 
was  gone  altogether  he  wanted  to 
know  where  it  had  gone.  No  one 
seemed  to  help  him  very  much.  Most 
people  rather  seemed  to  hinder. 
83 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Everybody  said  to  him,  "No,  no."  He 
never  got  so  tired  of  anything  in  his 
life. 

The  thing  that  he  surely  wanted 
hardest  was  the  fire,  and  they  wouldn't 
let  him  have  it.  Everybody  else  had  it 
without  question.  Even  Catharine  was 
allowed  to  get  some  on  a  splinter  and 
set  it  on  its  little  white  roller,  where  it 
danced  high  up  on  the  mantel.  But  no 
one  would  let  him  get  a  chance.  On 
that  very  day  that  he  almost  got  it 
cook  put  a  wire  cage  around  the 
hearth,  for  no  other  reason  he  knew 
than  to  spite  him,  because  she  saw  he 
wanted  it.  He  pretended  he  didn't  for 
a  long  time  to  fool  her,  but  the  cage 
was  left  there  just  the  same. 

The  schoolmaster  was  a  rational 
man.  One  would  think  he  might  be 
made  to  understand.  He  was  very 
84 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

fond  of  fire  himself,  and  ate  a  little  cup- 
ful every  evening.  He  sucked  it  up 
through  a  straw  that  was  fastened  in 
the  bottom  of  the  cup.  It  must  have 
been  awfully  good  from  the  look  that 
came  into  his  face.  He  swallowed  the 
fire,  every  bit,  and  blew  the  smoke  out 
of  his  mouth.  Then  he  would  tell  a 
long  story,  the  fire  in  his  stomach  felt 
so  good.  But  when  Noll  just  begged 
for  one  suck  the  schoolmaster  said  the 
usual  "No,  no,"  and  "That  is  not  good 
for  little  babies."  So  that  was  enough 
of  the  schoolmaster.  No  satisfaction 
to  be  got  out  of  him. 

Cook  was  affectionate  and  soft- 
hearted. She  would  give  him  most 
anything  if  he  cried  for  it.  He  used  to 
watch  her  wistfully  every  evening  when 
she  made  ready  to  light  that  dear 
candle,  carrying  the  little  flame  on  the 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

splinter,  and  sticking  it  off  on  to  its 
roller.  He  so  wanted  to  get  that  cun- 
ning little  wriggling  flame  in  his  hands, 
to  snuggle  it  softly  in  his  pocket;  and 
he  would  promise  not  to  eat  it  at  all, 
but  would  give  it  right  back  in  a  min- 
ute; he  held  up  his  hands  and  whim- 
pered coaxingly,  with  all  of  the  pity  he 
could  muster,  but  cook  caught  him  up 
in  her  arms  and  cried  and  said,  "Bless 
his  little  heart,"  till  he  had  to  kick  and 
work  himself  away,  he  was  that  dis- 
gusted with  her  unreasonable  behavior. 
If  cook  was  always  pretending  that  she 
didn't  like  men  how  was  it  that  she 
liked  him  so  much?  He  was  growing 
up  to  be  a  man,  and  she  would  have 
the  trouble  of  changing  her  mind. 
Anyway,  she  might  give  him  that  fire  if 
she  loved  him,  wriggling  there  like  a 
little  red  mouse. 

86 


NOLL   and   the  FAIRIES 

Pat  was  a  pretty  nice  fellow,  though 
cook  made  out  she  couldn't  endure 
him.  He  only  came  in  the  evening, 
and  he  smelt  of  green  things  in  the 
woods.  Noll  liked  the  herby  green 
smell.  He  liked  Pat,  too,  along  with  it, 
for  he  gave  him  his  clasp  knife  to  play 
with,  though  he  never  would  open  the 
blade.  Then  he  took  him  up  on  his 
back  and  cantered  about  like  a  horse, 
and  when  they  were  all  aches  with 
laughing  they  sat  down  upon  each 
other's  knee  and  Pat  sang  a  big  song, 
and  jounced  him,  and  it  all  went, 
"Te-row-dowdy-dow!"  Yes,  Pat  was 
his  favorite  those  days.  He  liked  him 
because  he  was  kind  to  the  cook.  He 
called  her  Marimedarlin,  and  his  voice 
went  like  music  through  that  name. 

One  night  Pat  came  into  the  kitchen 
singing  like  a  whole  choir  in  church. 
87 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

"Good  evening,  Marimedarlin!"  he 
said,  with  a  wink  down  to  Noll. 

Cook  was  that  minute  lighting  the 
candle.  She  had  not  yet  put  it  on  the 
shelf.  She  felt  so  proud  at  being  seen 
with  the  fire  that  it  made  her  a  bit 
haughtier  than  usual.  She  said  some- 
thing scornful  about  men,  and  tossed 
her  head  so  as  her  pink  cheek  turned 
toward  him. 

Then  Pat  began  wanting  that  fire. 
You  could  see  his  mouth  hungering 
for  it. 

"Give  me  one,  Mary,"  he  said,  with  a 
wonderful  sweetness  in  his  voice,  trem- 
bling, and  yet  strong  and  steady. 

"Go  'way,  you  brute,"  said  the  cook. 
"I've  only  now  lighted  the  candle,  and 
Noll  is  getting  a  big  boy." 

But  Pat  was  so  egaer  that  he  didn't 
care.  He  was  crazy  to  get  at  that  fire. 
88 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

He  made  a  grab  at  it,  too,  but  quick  as 
a  wink  cook  had  it  behind  her.  She 
had  forgotten  Pat's  arms  were  so  long. 
They  slipped  around  her  as  easy.  He 
took  the  little  fire  in  his  hand,  right 
between  his  thumb  and  forefinger,  and 
then  he  must  have  popped  it  into  his 
mouth,  for  Noll  heard  it  go  smack, 
smack,  smack,  as  it  would  do,  you 
know,  if  in  water.  It  was  so  dark  that 
he  couldn't  see  much,  but  he  could  feel 
somehow  that  Pat  was  enjoying  the 
taste.  The  air  was  just  like  electricity, 
and  Pat's  feeling  seemed  to  go  through 
it. 

Oh,  but  the  sly,  sly  cook,  trying  to 
keep  fooling  the  baby!  For  when  she 
had  thought  to  struggle  away  from  Pat 
and  had  set  another  fire  on  the  candle, 
and  put  that  safe  upon  the  shelf,  she 
pretended  that  "just  one"  meant  a 
89 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

cooky,  and  she  brought  Pat  half  a 
dozen  or  more,  and  she  even  put  a  few 
tarts  in  with  them,  but  Noll  could  see 
through  all  of  that.  "Just  one"  had 
meant  really  the  fire,  and  Pat  was  still 
smacking  his  lips  in  a  way  that  tarts 
and  cookies  never  made  him.  So  Pat 
liked  to  play  with  fire  as  well  as  others, 
and  there  was  no  hope  of  getting  help 
from  him.  But  why  was  it  the  cook 
looked  so  pleased?  She  had  said  that 
he  mustn't,  and  was  haughty,  but  as 
soon  as  he  had  got  hold  of  the  fire  she 
never  resisted  a  mite,  and  later  had 
been  pleased  and  gave  him  cookies. 
Surely  she  was  not  very  consistent. 

Another  time  his  mother  was  wash- 
ing the  little  roller's  saucer  and  putting 
a  new  roller  back,  for  they  seemed  to 
wear  out  like  his  stockings,  only  begin- 
ning at  top  instead  of  bottom.  She 
90 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

gave  him  the  saucer  to  play  with,  and 
then  he  wanted  the  roller  along  with  it. 
That,  too,  was  put  in  his  hands.  It  was 
nicer  to  feel  than  the  saucer,  part  slip- 
pery and  part  rough,  like  the  cat's 
tongue,  just  what  makes  you  want  to 
grab  it.  Well,  he  felt  like  a  king  with 
his  scepter.  He  walked  over  grandly 
to  the  fireplace,  took  up  a  splinter 
from  the  corner  and  motioned  with  a 
gesture  of  authority  to  have  the  cage 
taken  away. 

Mothers  are  suctfuncertain  creatures. 
You  can  never  tell  what  they'll  do  next. 
What  did  Noll's  do,  for  instance,  but 
catch  him  up  in  her  arms  and  cover  his 
face  with  swift  kisses.  It  took  all  the 
dignity  out  of  him.  Nor  did  it  help 
him  to  get  at  the  fire.  After  she  had 
hugged  him  and  called  him  cunning 
she  grew  very  stern,  like  his  father, 
91 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

and  said,  "No,  no;  burn,  burn,"  several 
times  with  other  things  equally  foolish. 

"Burn,  burn!" — was  anything  ever  so 
stupid? 

"Burn,  burn,"  was  the  way  that  the 
tea  bit  his  tongue  when  he  tried  to 
drink  it  from  the  cup.  It  had  first  to 
be  turned  into  the  saucer.  Was  that 
why  the  candle  had  its  saucer?  Of 
course  not,  or  else  it  would  have  bitten 
Pat's  tongue.  He  didn't  stop  for  any 
saucer.  He  was  in  too  big  a  hurry  for 
that.  Noll  thought  over  the  matter 
some  time,  but  concluded  his  mother 
was  mistaken. 

At  last  the  long  looked  for  chance 
came,  as  things  do  come,  they  say,  if 
only  we  wait  long  enough.  Sister 
Catharine  was  spinning  her  top  on  the 
table  and  Jane  was  waiting  for  her 
turn,  when  the  top  flew  off  on  to  the 
92 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

floor  and  brother  Henry  hit  it  with  his 
foot  and  picked  it  up  and  put  it  in  his 
pocket,  pretending  to  look  as  much  as 
ever,  though  he  had  it  in  his  pocket  all 
the  time.  Catharine  got  down  on  all 
fours  and  crawled  around  under  the 
table,  but  Jane  thought  she  heard  it 
strike  against  the  settle,  and  persisted 
in  poking  under  that. 

"Take  the  candle  and  look,"  cried 
brother  Henry.  "Maybe  it  hid  in  the 
corner."  Then  he  stuck  his  head 
under  the  table,  for  he  was  laughing  so 
he  couldn't  stay  in  the  light. 

Noll  was  watching  his  chance.  He 
knew  there  was  'no  time  for  him  like  a 
quarrel,  and  things  under  the  table 
were  getting  warm. 

"You  got  it!"  said  Catharine,  stand- 
ing up,  forgetting  she  was  under  the 
table,  and  giving  her  head  a  loud  bump 
93 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

that  made  the  dishes  jump  up  and 
shiver. 

"Never!"  said  Henry,  telling  the 
truth,  for  he  had  slipped  the  top  back 
on  the  table. 

"But  you're  laughing!"  insisted  Cath- 
arine. 

"Because  you  bumped  your  head," 
replied  Henry. 

"Honor  bright,  you  haven't  got  it?" 

"Honor  bright,"  affirmed  Henry. 

"Hope  to'die?"  said  Catharine,  sol- 
emnly. 

"Hope  to  die!"  said  Henry,  just  as 
solemn. 

Jane  was  standing  up  to  act  as  judge. 
They  had  forgotten  about  Noll  and  the 
candle. 

Wink,  wink,  wink,  went  the  little  fire, 
as  if  trying  to  jump  off  the  roller  and  fly 
away  up  the  black  chimney.  But  it  was 
94 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

tied  at  the  foot  and  couldn't  get  loose 
and  Noll  was  slipping  nearer  and  nearer. 

He  was  thinking  how  it  would  wrig- 
gle in  his  fingers,  and  how  he  would 
snuggle  it  first  and  only  eat  it  the  last 
minute  when  they  came  to  take  it  from 
him. 

Oh,  how  he  jumped  when  he  grabbed 
it!  Oh,  how  he  shouted  when  he  seized 
it,  right  in  his  two  little  hands! 

Then  something  terrible  happened! 
The  little  fire  bit  him,  oh,  dreadfully, 
and  then  got  away  after  all.  Bit  him 
worse  than  tea  on  his  tongue,  and  then 
hopped  away  and  flew  up  the  chimney 
or  he  s'posed  it  did,  though  he  had  his 
eyes  shut.  He  had  shut  them  without 
thinking  when  he  grabbed  it.  Oh,  and 
such  pains  in  his  hands  running  clear 
up  to  his  elbows  and  chewing  and  bit- 
ing all  the  time!  You  may  well  believe 
95 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

that  he  screamed.  He  screamed 
steady  all  the  rest  of  that  evening.  It 
was  little  comfort  to  him  that  sister 
Jane  was  sent  off  to  .bed  in  disgrace; 
and  brother  Henry  as  well,  and  he  big- 
ger than  Jane,  too,  and  crying.  That 
didn't  help  the  bites  on  Noll's  hands, 
nor  did  it  console  him  in  his  disappoint- 
ment. They  wrapped  his  hands  in 
sweet  oil  and  flour,  and  he  had  to  wear 
the  bandages  for  days. 

That  was  enough  of  fire  for  Noll. 
Weeks  after  he  cried  and  he  fussed,  if 
Henry  so  much  as  pointed  at  the 
candle  or  wriggled  his  tongue  like  a 
flame.  No  one  could  get  him  to  go 
near  the  hearth.  Cook  took  away  the 
wire  cage  to  the  attic.  She  said  it  was 
unlocking  the  stable  after  the  horse 
had  been  stolen,  though  he  didn't 
know  quite  what  she  meant. 
96 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

As  for  Pat  and  the  schoolmaster 
and  the  rest — well,  they  certainly  had 
very  poor  taste. 


97 


IX 


NOLL    was    losing    sight    of    the 
fairies.     They   seemed   to   fade 
away  before  his  eyes.    He  knew 
they  were  there  just  the  same.    He  felt 
them  in  his  thinking  more  than  ever; 
but   fairies   are   very  shy  with   grown 
folk,   and    Noll    was    growing    bigger 
every  day.     He  couldn't  exactly  make 
out  just  where  and  when  he  felt  them 
in  himself.     He  thought  sometimes  it 
was  after  he  was  good,  but  oftener  it 
99 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

was  not  in  himself  but  in  other  people 
maybe,  or  in  animals.  It  made  him 
want  to  hug  them  up  close  and  listen 
to  the  beating  of  their  hearts. 

Of  all  the  animals  he  seemed  to  feel 
it  most  in  the  dogs.  Especially  in  their 
yellow  dog  Tom,  who  was  shaggy,  and 
big,  and  mild-eyed.  Noll  used  to 
squeeze  Tom  and  squeeze  him  till  it 
seemed  he  was  a  real  fairy  in  dog 
shape,  and  Tom  seemed  to  think  he 
was,  too, — he  stood  so  still  to  be 
squeezed. 

The  cats  had  the  least  fairy  of  all. 
They  liked  squeezing  something  the 
same  as  did  Tom,  only  they  couldn't 
stand  it  so  hard.  They  purred  and 
arched  up  their  backs  and  were  won- 
derfully pleased  when  he  stroked  them. 
He  listened  to  hear  their  hearts  sing, 
but  while  it  was  pleasant  to  think  of,  it 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

was  not  like  the  feeling  of  fairies.  The 
cats  kneaded  their  bread  with  their 
hands,  and  spread  fingers  when  he 
tickled  their  palms.  They  narrowed 
down  their  eyes  and  looked  happy; 
nothing  could  seem  more  contented 
— but  as  for  the  whisperings  of  fairies 
Noll  listened  and  listened  in  vain. 

But  Tom,  he  was  big  with  their  feel- 
ing. It  panted  in  him,  it  was  so  alive. 

When  he  stood  still  and  Noll 
squeezed  him  hard,  it  was  like  being 
two  there  in  one,  without  any  room  to 
get  lonesome,  they  were  mingled  so 
close  in  each  other. 

Then  Tom  was  so  nice  to  go  walk- 
ing. Better  than  any  of  the  two-legged 
people.  There  was  brother  Henry,  for 
instance,  who  always  walked  in  a  hurry, 
and  when  Noll  was  getting  hopelessly 
behind  and  discouraged  and  feeling 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

his  temper,  Henry  would  turn  around 
and  say  "cry  baby,"  and  "girl,"  and 
things  equally  horrid,  even  singing 
them  in  very  naughty  rhymes. 

When  Jane  went  she  kept  him  by  the 
hand,  and  that  made  him  feel  all  one- 
sided, one  arm  swinging  and  one  up,  it 
was  as  if  he  were  walking  with  three 
legs.  Then  Jane  went  always  the 
wrong  way,  exactly  opposite  from  the 
direction  he  wanted,  and  she  stopped 
at  the  flowers,  and  the  shrubs,  and  all 
things  that  didn't  amuse  him  and 
walked  past  the  toads  and  nice  worms 
and  the  things  that  he  wanted  to  play 
with. 

Catharine  was  better  than  Jane,  but 
even  Catharine  didn't  understand  chil- 
dren. She  often  thought  him  utterly 
helpless  when  he  could  have  easily 
managed  if  she'd  only  given  him  the 

102 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

time.  But  no,  she  must  pick  him  up  in 
her  arms  and  lug  him  as  the  cat  lugs 
her  kittens,  and  though  she  began  by 
clasping  his  waist  it  was  only  the  loose 
waist  of  his  clothes  and  that  soon 
slipped  up  around  his  neck  and  left 
him  dangling  and  bare  with  only  his 
head  under  cover,  the  rest  of  him 
swinging  in  the  wind  striking  briars  or 
anything  handy,  while  behind  him 
came  Catharine's  knees  churning  away 
like  two  engines. 

But  some  of  the  grown  folk  were 
worse — father,  holding  one  arm  straight 
up  with  big  legs  swinging  past  his 
ears,  threatening  to  rub  one  off  any 
minute;  mother,  with  her  mountain  of 
skirts  that  tangled  him  and  tripped  him 
and  smothered  him;  or  cook,  with  her 
feet  so  uncertain  he  never  could  tell 
where  they  would  settle.  No;  he  pre- 
103 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

ferred  Catharine  and  her  dangling. 
Though  when  Catharine  fell  forward 
she  fell  heavy.  It  mashed  him  till  he 
bulged  out  at  the  eyes. 

Then  the  combinations  of  people — 
they  were  very  confusing.  Father  and 
mother,  for  instance,  taking  him  Sun- 
day to  church.  Big  legs  swinging  on 
one  side,  silken  skirts  wrapping  him  in 
their  folds,  his  arms  stretched  up  over 
his  head  and  his  hat  stretched  down 
over  one  eye  with  its  rubber  twisting 
in  his  hair  every  time  father's  leg  hit 
the  hat  brim.  It  kept  his  loose  eye 
pretty  busy  looking  out  for  a  place  to 
put  his  feet;  and  often  there  was  no 
place  at  all,  but  he  swung  as  on  a  flying 
trapeze  and  even  that  would  not  hold 
together,  for  father  swung  his  arm  one 
way,  while  mother  swung  her  arm  the 
other;  no  wonder  he  was  a  good  boy 
104 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

at  church,  till  the  neighbors  all  thought 
he  was  stupid.  It  was  not  stupidity 
that  ailed  him,  he  was  counting  disloca- 
tions and  sprains. 

Then  the  Henry  and  Jane  combina- 
tion, with  Catharine  on  the  other  side 
of  Henry.  That  went  well  enough  till 
they  raced,  but  they  always  began  it 
with  racing,  down-hill  racing  at  that. 
Oh,  how  that  stretched  his  legs!  He 
found  he  must  hit  ground  every  step 
or  his  steps  got  mixed  up  and  he 
dragged.  Then  Henry  complained  he 
was  too  little,  and  rather  than  be  called 
too  little  he  would  split  even  up  to  his 
neck.  He  was  thankful  that  his  collar 
was  tight;  it  would  keep  him  together  at 
the  top.  But  he  knew  it  was  dangerous 
business,  this  taking  such  tearing  long 
steps.  He  used  to  slip  off  behind  the 
shed  when  it  was  over  and  examine 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

himself  carefully  and  earnestly.  If  seri- 
ous damage  had  been  done  he  felt  it 
was  well  to  know  the  worst.  He  didn't 
know  what  he  would  do  about  it  exactly 
if  he  found  that  he  was  giving  way. 

But  old  dog  Tom — he  understood. 
He  knew  how  to  take  a  walk.  If  Noll 
even  so  much  as  started  out  alone  Tom 
would  get  up  and  follow  sedately.  No 
matter  how  tired  he  was;  perhaps  he 
had  been  barking  all  night,  keeping  the 
moon  at  proper  distance,  or  perhaps  he 
had  been  chasing  the  pigs  or  torment- 
ing old  Daisy  in  the  garden;  no  mat- 
ter how  much  he  needed  his  sleep, 
whenever  he  saw  Noll  start  alone  he 
was  up  and  walking  beside  him,  re- 
spectful, but  not  bothersome  or  famil- 
iar— all  that  a  companion  ought  to  be. 

Noll  liked  the  waving  tall  grass  with 
the  wind  making  cloud  shadows  in  it. 
1 06 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

He  liked  the  flowers  rustling,  too,  on 
their  stems,  and  stopped  to  kiss  them 
when  no  one  was  looking.  Jane  pulled 
off  the  poor  flowers'  heads  and  tied 
them  with  necks  tight  together,  but 
Noll  just  kissed  them  very  softly  and 
old  Tom  understood  it  every  bit,  and 
sometimes  he  kissed  them  right  after. 
In  case  a  few  heads  were  knocked  off 
— for  knocking  off  heads  is  such  pleas- 
ure— Noll  carried  every  one  to  the 
brook  and  placed  them  right  side  up  in 
the  water  where  they  would  not  wither 
at  all,  but  float  away  on  merry  raft 
journeys  whirling  and  laughing  all  the 
time. 

It  was  a  tiny  brook  running  through 
the  pasture  and  it  had  the  fairies  in  it, 
too,  the  same  as  the  flowers  and  the 
grass.  Tom  understood  and  walked 
in  and  lay  down  and  lapped  and 
107 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

looked  happy.  Noll  would  have  waded 
in,  too,  but  the  water  rolling  under  his 
feet  seemed  to  set  his  round  head 
a-rolling,  he  felt  as  if  he  were  sliding  up 
hill  and  altogether  uncomfortable  and 
uneasy.  So  he  remembered  what  his 
mother  had  told  him,  and  sat  on  the 
edge  and  looked  over.  Purr,  purr, 
purr,  went  the  brook,  much  as  if  it 
were  the  cat  begging  supper,  only  the 
brook  purred  away  all  the  time;  and 
the  ferns  bent  over  to"  listen  or  gently 
to  stroke  it  on  the  back.  Noll  used  to 
stroke  it,  too,  very  gently,  and  pick  the 
stones  from  the  way  of  its  feet,  till  the 
brook  purred  that  it  liked  the  stones 
there  they  held  it  the  longer  to  talk  to 
him.  He  used  to  sing  to  it,  too,  think- 
ing the  words  as  he  sang  them.  He 
never  wrote  his  songs  in  those  days,  but 
he  thought  them  something  like  this: 
108 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Fairy  brook,  fairy  brook, 
Listen,  I  sing  you 

Words  of  my  love. 
Fairy  brook,  fairy  brook, 
Look,  now,  I  bring  you 
Flowers  from  above. 

Fairy  brook,  fairy  brook, 
Deep  in  your  shadows 

I  see  your  flowers. 
Fairy  brook,  fairy  brook, 
In  your  brown  meadows 
I  dream  for  hours. 

Fairy  brook,  fairy  brook, 
If  you  but  love  me 
Tell  me  so,  true. 
Fairy  brook,  fairy  brook, 
My  face  to  prove  me 
Shines  back  from  you. 
109 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

At  first  he  was  a  little  surprised  to 
find  the  same  baby  in  the  brook  that 
he  knew  in  the  misty  window  in  the 
parlor,  but  he  had  given  the  matter  a 
little  hard  thinking,  and  concluded  it 
was  not  the  same  baby  at  all.  In  fact 
the  misty  window  in  the  parlor  had 
ceased  to  interest  him  for  some  time. 
The  baby  in  there  was  not  genuine,  but 
was  a  pretended  baby  some  way  of  him- 
self. Everything  he  did  it  did,  very 
stupid. 

But  this  brook  baby  was  different.  It 
was  himself,  and  yet  it  was  more.  That 
showed  how  the  brook  was  a  fairy 
and  how  it  loved  him,  and  loved  Tom, 
and  the  flowers,  and  the  ferns,  and  the 
trees,  and  the  sky.  For  everything  it 
gave  back  it  beautified,  and  that  is 
what  love  does,  you  know.  The  sky 
was  bluer,  the  color  of  the  flowers 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

richer,  the  trees  more  tall  and  grand, 
Tom  more  real  and  like  his  fairy,  and 
the  picture  of  Noll's  own  face  more 
subtle,  speaking  the  poetry  that  was 
behind  it.  Yes,  it  was  simple  as  any- 
thing how  the  brook  loved,  and  re- 
flected like  a  true  loving  heart. 

And  old  Tom  lay  in  it  and  lapped  it. 
Dear  shaggy,  dripping  old  Tom! 


III 


OF  ALL  the  people  that  the  fairies 
showed  most  in,  Pat  was  the  very 
best  -of   everybody.      That   was 
funny,  for  it  wasn't  in  his  face.     His 
face  was  heavy  and  ugly,  at  least  till 
you  came  to  know  it  well.     Nor  was  it 
any  more  in  his  body,  for  he  was  awk- 
ward and  big-jointed  and  stiff.      Noll 
decided  it  was  most  in  his  hands.     Pat 
"3 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

had  big  coarse  hands  and  rough,  but  if 
they  so  much  as  once  touched  you  why 
then  you  felt  the  fairies  in  a  flash. 

Pat  was  all  the  time  digging  in  the 
soil.  He  was  born,  he  said,  with  a 
spade  in  his  hand,  and  that  seemed 
interesting  to  Noll. 

"What  was  I  born  with  in  my  hand?" 
he  asked  one  day  when  he  was  bigger. 

"A  trump,"  said  Pat,  looking  at  him 
keenly. 

Noll  thought  this  over  some  days 
and  wondered  why  he  didn't  have  it 
now  and  go  about  sounding  it  like 
Gabriel. 

"What  is  a  trump?"  he  asked  one 
day. 

"It's  a  thing  that  no  matter  what 
turns  up  you  can  always  make  the  best 
of  it,"  said  Pat. 

"But  do  I  have  one  in  my  hand?" 
114 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

asked  Noll,  spreading  out  ten  very 
dirty  fingers. 

"You  have  it  in  your  heart,  my  lad, 
which  is  better,  for  no  one  can  ever 
take  it  from  you." 

Noll  thought  on  this  for  some  weeks. 
Pat  knew  a  good  deal  about  hearts. 
He  gave  his  to  cook  on  St.  Valentine's 
day,  and  she  gave  back  hers  in  return. 
And  now  their  two  hearts  were  one. 
This  was  difficult  at  first  to  understand. 
He  was  never  quite  sure  he  had 
mastered  it;  but  it  was  something  like 
the  Trinity,  only  one  less,  and  very 
beautiful  to  think  of. 

There  was  something  going  on  be- 
tween Pat  and  the  cook.  Some  secret 
they  wouldn't  tell  anybody,  though 
everybody  but  Noll  knew  about  it. 
That  was  strange,  too,  for  he  saw  more 
than  any  of  the  rest  and  heard  almost 
"5 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

everything  there  was.  Some  things, 
though,  he  could  not  hear,  they  put 
their  heads  so  close  together  when  they 
spoke.  But  the  sound  of  their  voices 
was  very  pretty,  much  like  the  mur- 
muring of  the  brook,  which  is  really  the 
love-laughter  of  fairies  who  live  down 
in  the  brown  soil  and  make  cradles  for 
the  new-born  little  flower  children. 

Cook  was  doing  a  great  deal  of  sew- 
ing in  those  days.  The  kitchen  was 
filled  up  with  white  muslin,  and  crino- 
line, and  laces.  Jane  helped  on  the 
sewing  all  the  time,  and  Catharine 
picked  all  the  basting  threads.  Once 
she  upset  her  bread  from  the  table  and 
it  fell  jam-side  down  on  cook's  veil,  and 
cook  scolded  and  scolded  so  hard,  and 
Catharine  cried  hard  as  cook  scolded, 
till  finally  they  kissed  and  made  up,  but 
all  of  it  had  taken  so  much  time  that 
116 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

they  had  cold  potatoes  for  supper  and 
father  said  it  was  really  too  much. 

It  wasn't  so  strange  that  cook  should 
be  sewing  as  it  was  that  Pat  should  be 
interested.  What  should  Pat,  with  his 
spade,  care  for  sewing?  But  always  he 
was  hanging  around.  He  held  the 
little  knick-knacks  in  his  hand,  and 
pinched  at  the  laces  and  the  flowers 
with  a  look  of  as  much  wisdom  in  his 
face  as  if  he  were  buying  potatoes. 
Sometimes  he  would  pinch  Noll's 
cheeks,  too,  and  then  the  fairies  said 
everything  was  all  right  as  ever,  but 
still  Noll  wished  Pat  would  tell  him  the 
secret.  It  wasn't  quite  fair  to  a  friend. 

While  cook  was  busy  with  her  sew- 
ing Pat  was  fitting  up  his  cottage: 
mending  the  roof,  white-washing  the 
walls,  making  a  new  cupboard,  putting 
a  fourth  leg  on  the  table,  where  it  had 
117 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

before  leaned  against  the  wall,  and 
doing  all  sorts  of  nice  things.  Noll 
enjoyed  all  this  because  it  made  blocks 
for  him  to  play  with.  He  asked  Pat 
one  day  about  the  house,  and  why  he 
was  making  it  over,  whereat  Pat  took 
him  up  in  his  arms  and  carried  him  out 
to  the  pear-tree  where  the  robins  had 
a  nest  in  the  branches,  though  Noll 
never  was  allowed  to  go  near  it. 

"Look  over  into  the  nest,"  said  Pat,  his 
voice  gentle  as  the  big  hands  that  lifted. 

Noll  looked  over  very  much  excited 
and  saw  a  mass  of  wriggling  little  birds 
all  sitting  with  their  mouths  stretched 
wide  open. 

"Now  come  away/'  said  Pat,  softly, 
"for  the  father  bird  and  mother  bird 
won't  like  it.  But  that's  why  I'm  build- 
ing my  nest.  Just  like  the  robins  in  the 
springtime." 

118 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Noll  felt  that  Pat  had  really  told 
him,  but  he  didn't  understand  it,  and 
kept  still.  However,  he  liked  to  feel 
how  much  he  was  trusted,  and  he  sat 
down  and  listened  to  the  robins  and 
watched  them  hop  in  the  grass.  Hop, 
hop,  hop,  went  Father  Robin,  precisely 
as  if  he  were  sneezing.  He  knew 
what  he  was  about.  So  did  Pat,  who 
was  singing  as  he  worked. 

Cook  was  as  interested  in  Pat's  cot- 
tage as  he  was  interested  in  her  sew- 
ing. She  crossed  the  pasture  every 
evening  to  admire  it,  and  sometimes 
she  would  take  Noll  along.  He  liked 
the  cool  pasture  in  the  evening  when 
the  flowers  were  saying  their  prayers 
and  the  stars  waking  up  in  the  sky. 
The  greedy  sheep  and  cows  ate  and 
ate.  The  dew  on  the  grass  made  it 
juicy.  All  the  crickets  sang  sleep, 
119 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

sleep,  sleep,  sitting  by  the  cradles  of 
their  babies.  Pat  and  Mary  liked  the 
evening  time,  too,  for  they  walked 
back  slowly — very  slowly.  Pat  would 
pick  up  Noll  and  hold  him  close  and 
warm  to  his  breast;  and  oh,  then,  how 
the  fairies  sang  in  him!  Throb,  throb, 
throb  went  his  heart,  warmer  with  love 
even  than  Tom's  heart.  Noll  just 
sank  off  to  sleep  he  was  so  happy. 
Pat's  hands  were  so  restful  and  sooth- 
ing. 

One  Sunday  there  was  an  awful  to 
do.  Everybody  was  fidgeting  with  ex- 
citement. It  woke  Noll  up  an  hour 
early,  and  mother,  instead  of  cook,  was 
getting  breakfast.  Was  the  world 
turning  backward,  or  what  was  it? 
Noll  felt  as  fidgety  as  the  rest.  There 
was  not  any  salt  in  his  porridge,  and 
Tom  and  the  cats  had  a  fight.  Henry 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

was  the  only  one  who  was  calm.  He 
sat  on  the  flour-chest  and  whistled. 

The  hubbub  seemed  to  center  around 
cook,  who  was  actually  sitting  in  the 
parlor  dressed  like  an  angel  in  a  pic- 
ture, with  flowers  on  her  head  and 
white  gloves  and  white  shoes  with  very 
high  heels  and  everything  about  her 
pure  white.  Was  it  possible  that  cook 
was  going  to  fly  off  to  Heaven  and 
leave  them  to  do  their  own  work?  Noll 
would  see  if  she  had  any  wings.  He 
thought  he  smelled  something  like 
burnt  feathers,  and  the  candle  being 
lighted  on  the  table,  it  was  easy  for  her 
wings  to  get  singed.  He  was  edging 
around  to  get  respectfully  behind  her 
when  sister  Jane  seized  upon  him 
fiercely. 

"What  a  face  for  a  wedding!"she  cried. 

She  dragged  him  out  to  the  washtub 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

and  plastered  him  over  with  soap, 
which  took  nasty  wet  water  to  wash  off 
that  trickled  down  his  neck  and  up  his 
elbows,  while  a  cold  rag  mopped  at  his 
features  till  he  felt  himself  getting 
fainter  and  fainter  every  minute,  like  a 
picture  being  washed  off  a  slate.  By 
the  time  he  was  through  with  rebel- 
ling and  was  dressed  and  made  ready 
for  church,  cook  had  flown  off  without 
kissing  him  or  even  so  much  as  saying 
good-by.  She  appeared  again  at 
church  service,  however,  sitting  by  a 
most  elegant  gentleman  who  was 
dressed  up  in  everything  new,  black 
broadcloth  and  white  linen  and  high 
collar  and  the  most  wonderful  polish 
on  his  hair  that  smelled  elegantly 
through  the  whole  church. 

Noll   thought   of   the   words   of   the 
hymn,  "With    perfume    and    oil    He 

122 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

anointeth    my  head" — this    gentleman 
had  just  been  anointed. 

Once,  in  the  middle  of  the  sermon, 
Noll  got  a  terrible  start.  He  had  been 
watching  the  stiff  elegant  gentleman — 
he  could  not  keep  his  eyes  off  him — 
when  he  saw  him  give  a  quick  jerk 
with  his  shoulder  that  reminded  him 
exactly  of  Pat.  It  was  a  shock,  and 
took  time  to  recover.  Perhaps  he  had 
dozed  and  been  dreaming.  Things  do 
go  crooked  in  dreams,  what  was 
mother  may  be  the  schoolmaster,  or 
two  people  easily  be  one.  Still,  he 
liked  the  elegant  gentleman  for  that 
little  jerk  of  the  shoulder;  and  when 
after  church  should  have  been  over, 
but  the  people  all  sat  in  their  pews  and 
the  gentleman  more  perfumed  than 
ever  as  soon  as  he  began  to  stir  round, 
when  he  rose  and  walked  with  the 
123 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

angel  cook  up  to  the  altar  and  they 
stood  holding  hands  while  his  father 
talked  to  the  cook  as  if  he  had  never 
seen  her  before,  and  talked  to  the  gentle- 
man, too,  quite  as  his  dignity  demanded, 
why  then  Noll  just  felt  good  toward 
that  gentleman  and  knew  he  should 
like  him  in  time,  and  he  hoped  he 
would  not  sail  off  to  Heaven  borne  up 
in  his  odorous  cloud,  but  would  stay 
and  get  acquainted  with  Pat  who,  for 
some  reason,  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
He  was  thinking  this  over  confusedly 
while  the  people  were  all  shaking 
hands,  and  when  angel  cook  stooped 
down  and  kissed  him  and  the  elegant 
gentleman  took  him  in  his  arms,  then 
it  became  a  dream  after  all,  and  the 
gentleman  did  change  to  Pat,  and  his 
heart  was  thumping  inside,  and  Noll 
was  the  happiest  of  his  life. 
124 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

All  that  day  was  most  wonderful: 
eating  good  things  and  visiting  and 
rejoicing.  Noll  knew  it  was  all  done 
for  him,  and  he  walked  about  and 
enjoyed  every  minute. 

But  in  the  evening  it  was  curious. 
They  formed  a  procession  in  the  yard 
as  if  they  were  going  to  play  "Here  we 
go  round  the  raspberry  bush," — his 
father  and  mother  and  all  of  them,  but 
angel  cook  and  gentleman  Pat  were  it; 
and  then  they  walked  over  to  the  cot- 
tage and  blessed  the  two  and  left  them 
on  the  threshold. 

Noll  felt  like  crying,  but  he  didn't. 
He  winked  back  and  swallowed  down 
and  smiled.  He  was  thinking  of  the 
two  hearts  that  were  one,  and  of  the 
nest  of  the  father  and  mother  robin. 
And  though  he  was  sad  to  go  away  and 
leave  them,  he  was  glad,  too,  to  look 
"5 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

back  and  see  them  smiling.  And  for 
all  the  sweet  pain  in  his  heart,  this  was 
the  happiest  day  of  his  life. 


126 


XI 

THE  time  when  a  child  comes  to 
manhood  has  often  been  dis- 
puted in  the  law.  Some  say  it 
should  be  at  twenty-one  years,  and 
some  at  eighteen  or  even  younger. 
The  whole  controversy  is  unnecessary, 
however.  There  is  but  one  time  when 
the  boy  becomes  man,  and  that  is 
when  he  wears  his  first  pants.  If  you 
doubt  it  just  watch  the  nearest  baby 
who  first  shows  to  the  world  he  has 
legs. 

127 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

Legs  are  the  highest  gift  of  nature, 
the  proof  of  the  superiority  of  man. 
As  long  as  one  is  forced  to  go  about  in 
the  world  a  fluffy  bunch  of  rags  from 
throat  to  ankles  what  can  you  expect 
of  him  that's  manly?  He  may  be  a 
chicken  or  a  girl.  But  pants — only  put 
him  in  pants — and  there  is  your  man  in 
a  minute.  Look  at  the  head  held  aloft. 
Note  but  the  hands  in  the  pockets,  or 
study  the  long  swinging  stride.  It  is 
customary  to  marvel  at  the  butterfly 
that  has  come  from  a  crawling  loath- 
some worm,  but  I  tell  of  a  greater  met- 
amorphosis: the  changing  of  a  baby  to 
a  man. 

Noll  was  in  his  first  pants.  They  had 
come  to  him  like  an  inspiration  from 
Heaven,  unasked  for  and  all  unan- 
nounced. He  had  waked  as  on  any 
other  morning  and  stood  about  in  his 
128 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

long  flannel  night-gown  waiting,  as 
usual,  to  be  dressed,  though  not  eager 
or  particular  about  it.  His  mother 
took  him  up  on  her  lap  and  began  in 
the  everyday  fashion.  Sometimes  he 
counted  to  kill  time.  Dressing  was 
so  very  monotonous.  It  went  like 
this: 

Number  one  first: 

"One,  one,  one,  one,  one,  one." 

Off  came  the  flannel  night-gown  at 
one.  It  was  great  fun  to  get  away  and 
scamper  when  the  thick  dragging  thing 
was  kicked  down.  Mother  said  it  was 
naughty  to  do  so,  and  everyone  who 
saw  him  cried  shame!  But  he  felt  like 
the  colt  in  the  pasture  or  a  fish  or  a 
frog  in  the  water.  They  had  such  a 
time  of  it  catching  him  that  his  mother 
got  so  she  would  watch  and  only  take 
the  night-gown  half  off  before  slipping 
129 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

the  long  shirt  upon  him.  Then  he  be- 
gan counting  two. 
"  Two,  two,  two,  two,  two,  two.n 
Put  an  arm  in  a  sleeve.  No  matter 
if  it's  wrong  mother'll  turn  it.  There 
are  buttons  down  the  front  of  the  shirt 
to  shut  the  gate  where  the  head  just 
drove  through.  If  you  begin  at  the  top 
button  it  doesn't  make  any  difference. 
There  are  just  the  same  number  from 
the  bottom.  Now  comes  the  skirt  to 
join  on  to  it,  flying  over  the  head  like 
an  umbrella: 

"  Three,  three,  three,  three,  three!' 
The  skirt  has  a  hook  and  an   eye. 
Once  he  had  a  skirt  with  a  button.    A 
big  button  that  dug  into  his  back.    The 
hook   and  the  eye   are  much    better, 
because  there  are  two  instead  of  one. 
The  eye  can't  see  anything,  of  course, 
though  it  would  be  handy  enough  if  it 
130 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

could.  It  could  watch  out  when  he 
went  to  steal  sugar,  and  see  who  was 
coming  in  at  the  door.  Anyone  but 
Pat  and  you  must  stop  it.  Pat  never 
tells  on  a  fellow. 

The  dress  was  fourth,  but  Noll 
couldn't  count  beyond  three,  so  he 
began  over  at  one. 

"One,  one,  one,  one,  one,  one" 

How  he  hated  the  dress!  Smoth- 
ery, and  flouncy,  and  fuzzy.  Some- 
times it  got  wound  round  his  face  or 
tangled  in  his  arms  wrong  side  fore- 
most. It  had  a  smell  of  stale  milk  and 
peaches,  and  reminded  him  of  yester- 
day's dinner.  There  were  both  buttons 
and  hooks  and  eyes  on  the  dress,  and 
it  lasted  through  a  long  time  of  count- 
ing. 

"One,  one,  one,  one,  one,  one,  one,  one." 

But  this  morning  something  was 
131 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

different.  He  got  mixed  up  at  two, 
and  lost  count.  The  shirt  had  gone  on 
as  usual.  There  was  no  trouble  at  all 
with  the  shirt.  Then  over  the  shirt 
came  a  waist,  but  he  was  used  to  that 
in  cold  weather.  He  looked  out  the 
window  to  see  if  it  were  raining,  and 
was  surprised  to  find  the  day  bright 
and  warm.  But  the  skirt  would  be 
three  to-day.  He  waited  for  the  um- 
brella descending. 

" Three,  three,  three,  three,  three,  three" 

And  then  the  pants  dawned  upon 
him.  He  looked  down  and  saw  him- 
self two-legged. 

He  was  a  man! 

His  amazement  made  him  quite 
speechless.  Was  he  dreaming?  Or 
was  this  like  Pat's  being  the  gentle- 
man? Or  the  two  hearts  that  were 
really  one?  The  two  hearts  were 
132 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

something  more  like  it,  for  there 
were  two  legs  and  they  were  one 
man.  The  skirt  didn't  come  down 
an  umbrella,  but  the  pants  had  slipped 
up  instead.  It  was  like  putting  a  glove 
on  a  hand,  except  there  were  only  two 
fingers.  Up,  up,  came  the  pants  on  his 
legs,  and  button,  button,  the  stiff 
buttons  on  his  waist;  the  mother  could 
get  but  two  buttons  done,  for  Noll  took 
a  leay  to  the  floor,  and  stood  as  was 
fitting  to  his  dignity.  He  was  not  a 
baby  in  a  dress  to  be  sitting  in  the  lap 
of  a  woman. 

He  strutted  around  in  a  circle 
exactly  like  the  old  turkey-gobbler, 
looking  down  fondly  at  his  legs  and 
admiring  the  shapeliness  of  them. 

Blue!  and  his  favorite  color!  Some- 
thing like  Pat's,  only  bluer.  He  was 
afraid  to  let  his  mother  finish  button- 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

ing  them.  She  might  change  her  mind 
and  take  them  off.  He  tried  to  do  the 
buttons  himself,  but  in  looking  down 
to  get  at  the  buttons  his  legs  came  into 
such  elegant  view  that  he  forgot  again 
all  about  the  buttons  and  continued  his 
circling  as  before.  Finally  his  mother 
was  permitted,  for  sister  Jane  was  com- 
ing up  the  stairway  and  would  be 
shocked  at  seeing  a  man  partly  dressed. 
He  was  fearful  they  would  offer  to 
carry  him,  so  he  headed  the  procession 
down-stairs.  He  could  see  that  they 
treated  him  differently.  Their  manner 
was  more  respectful  in  approaching 
him.  They  gathered  around  in  a 
circle  admiring,  as  women  do  gather 
around  a  man  and  as  is  perfectly  natu- 
ral and  proper;  they  spoke  of  his  man- 
liness and  carriage,  and  especially 
applauded  his  high  step.  He  did 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

nearly  faint  for  a  moment  on  making 
the  discovery  of  the  pockets.  New 
joys  were  making  him  dizzy.  But  soon 
he  had  his  hands  well  established,  and 
was  walking  about  surveying  the 
women  carelessly,  even  spitting  out 
grandly  and  successfully  as  he  had 
seen  the  men  do  at  the  grocer's. 

Breakfast  was  tedious  that  morning 
with  his  legs  out  of  sight  under  the 
table.  He  was  afraid  he  might  be 
taken  for  a  baby.  In  fact  Catharine 
did  forget  and  brought  him  a  bib,  but 
he  met  the  insult  as  it  deserved,  and 
Catharine  retired  to  her  porridge. 

Old  Tom  was  sleeping  in  the  sun- 
shine when  he  set  out  to  take  a  morn- 
ing walk.  What  would  he  think  when 
he  saw  the  new  man?  He  got  up  as  if  to 
go  along,  but  seeing  the  legs  instead  of 
dresses  thought,  "This  one  can  care  for 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

himself,"  and  lay  down  and  went  on  with 
his  sleeping.  Tom  was  a  dog  of  under- 
standing, but  Noll  was  not  so  sure  of 
the  red  rooster's  wisdom.  He  had 
been,  as  a  baby,  very  much  afraid  of 
the  red  rooster.  There  was  a  wicked 
look  .in  his  eyes  that  seemed  to  say,  "I 
will  jump  on  any  baby's  head  and 
scratch  and  flap  my  wings  if  I  want  to." 
Would  he,  to-day,  have  intelligence 
enough  to  recognize  the  difference  of 
the  legs?  Noll  sidled  far  around. 

Brother  Henry  called  from  the  stable, 
"Say,  Noll,  are  you  going  after  go- 
phers?" That  was  recognition  indeed, 
but  he  was  strong  enough  to  put  it  by 
grandly.  No,  he  was  going  for  a  walk. 

Pat  was  digging  in  the  field  of  pota- 
toes. Pat  was  the  test  of  the  world. 
What  would  he  say  when  he  saw  the 
new  man?  Would  he  presume  on  old 
136 


NOLL   and  the.  FAIRIES 

familiarities,  and  have  to  be  reminded 
of  his  place?  Not  at  all.  Pat  was  the 
climax  of  his  victories. 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Goldsmith,"  he 
said,  respectfully,  pulling  the  front  of 
his  hat.  "I  hope  I  see  you  enjoying 
the  morning." 

To  tell  the  truth  Noll  was  a  little 
taken  aback  himself  just  at  first.  He 
looked  around  to  see  if  his  father  was 
behind  him,  but  no,  he  was  the  only 
man  present.  It  was  clear  Pat  was 
speaking  to  him.  Was  it  possible  he 
had  taken  him  for  his  father?  He  had 
heard  there  was  a  family  resemblance. 
Then  in  a  moment  it  flashed  upon  him 
that  his  name  was  now  Mr.  Goldsmith. 
He  was  sorry  to  lose  Noll  though,  for 
he  liked  it.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  see 
Pat  so  respectful,  but  there  was  a  little 
pain,  too,  in  the  pleasure. 


NOLL   and   the  FAIRIES 

"What  do  you  think  of  the  prospect 
for  potatoes  this  year?"  said  Pat,  as  he 
would  say  to  the  grocer. 

Noll  spread  out  his  legs  and  smiled 
feebly.  He  wished  Pat  would  speak  of 
his  pants,  though  he  appreciated  his 
delicacy  of  feeling. 

"The  wind  blows  a  little  like  rain," 
began  Pat,  as  a  second  bold  venture. 

No  sign  from  Noll  this  time  at  all. 
Was  it  possible  that  Pat  wasn't  ever 
going  to  kiss  him  any  more,  or  toss  him 
up  and  catch  him  in  his  arms? 

"Have  you  heard  the  news  from  the 
village  that  parliament  has  passed  a 
resolution 

But  here  Noll's  chin  began  to  go  all 
a  quiver,  and  Pat  caught  him  up  to  his 
breast,  pants  and  all,  as  if  he  were  a 
baby,  and  he  kissed  him  and  said, 
"Bless  his  dear  heart!"  and  coddled 
138 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

him  in  under  his  rough  chin,  and  said, 
"Did  he  think  old  Pat  didn't  know 
him?"  and  hugged  him  up  close  to  his 
heart. 

Well,  Noll  was  better  after  that, 
though  he  did  sob  and  pour  tears  out 
like  rain.  Pat  set  him  down  on  a  sack 
of  potatoes  and  wiped  the  tear  stains 
off  his  face,  and  then  began  admiring 
his  pants  and  pinching  his  legs  slyly 
through  them,  pretending  to  be 
pinching  the  cloth,  and  slapping 
him  gently  behind  and  saying  that 
his  shape  would  break  all  the  hearts 
in  the  village;  and  then  on  discover- 
ing the  pockets  where  only  his  two 
fingers  would  go  in — that  was  the  end 
of  all  sorrow,  for  Noll  laughed  till 
he  rolled  over  and  over.  Then  at 
noon  Pat  asked  him  home  to  dinner 
where  Mary  took  him  up  in  her  lap, 
139 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

and  he  decided  to  have  a  bib  after  all 
because  the  waist  was  new  like  the 
pants;  and  all  that  day  he  was  so 
happy  because  Pat  knew  and  yet 
wasn't  any  different,  and  neither  did 
Pat  mention  the  subject  that  tears  had 
fallen  on  his  new  pants. 

That  night  they  lay  under  his  pillow. 
But  they  were  dearer  to  think  Pat  had 
kissed  them  and  kissed  them  on  top  of 
the  tears. 


140 


XII 

THERE  was  great  excitement  and 
rejoicing,    for    the    family    was 
going  to  move.     Noll  had  never 
moved  in  his  life,  but  he  thought   he 
should  like  it  immensely.     At  first  he 
was  sure  he  should  like  it,  but  that  was 
before   talking    with    Pat.      Catharine 
had  given  a  different  impression. 

"Will  you  move  with  us?"  he  asked 
Pat. 

"Sure!    We  will  all  move  together." 
"And  will  the  schoolmaster  move?" 
141 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

"Well,  I  should  say  not  the  school- 
master." 

"What  will  the  schoolmaster  do?" 

"I  suppose  he'll  stay  where  he  is." 

"Oh,   yes;    and   will    the    neighbors 
move?" 

"No;    just    those   who    live    in    our 
house." 

"Oh,  yes.     Why  won't  the  neighbors 
move?" 

But  Pat  pretended  not  to  hear. 

Noll   didn't   mind  repeating  a  ques- 
tion. 

"Why  won't  the  neighbors  move?" 

"They   haven't    any   place   to   move 
to,"  answered  Pat. 

That   seemed   a   very   good    reason. 
Noll  began  on  a  different  tack. 

"Will  we  move  in  the  night?" 

"No;  in  the  day,"  said  Pat,  wondering. 

"But  won't  we  all  be  asleep?" 
142 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

"No;  we'll  be  awake  all  right." 

"And  will  we  see  the  moving,  every 
bit?" 

"Sure,  we'll  see  it.    Why  not?" 

"The  trees,  and  the  well,  and  the 
pasture,  and  the  brook,  and  the  barn, 
and  everything?" 

"Oh,  they  don't  move  at  all.  They 
stay  here  where  they  are." 

"Oh,  yes!  Do  they  stay  here  with 
the  neighbors?" 

"Sure,  they  stay  right  here  always." 

"Why  do  they  stay  here  with  the 
neighbors?" 

But  Pat  pretended  not  to  hear. 

"Why  do  they  stay  here  with  the 
neighbors?" 

"They  haven't  anyplace  to  move  to," 
said  Pat. 

"But  they  want  to  move  with  us 
though,  don't  they?" 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

"I  think  they  do,"  said  Pat,  speaking 
fondly.  "Noll,  you  know  more  than 
the  schoolmaster,  I  guess." 

"I'll  go  and  whisper  to  them  every 
one,  that  I'm  sorry  and  that  I'll  love 
them  just  the  same  for  always.  And 
I'll  tell  them  not  to  mind  the  old 
neighbors  if  they  walk  by  without 
speaking  in  the  morning." 

He  went  off  whispering  softly  to 
everything,  to  the  fence  and  the  well- 
curb  and  the  pear-tree;  and  all  of  the 
flowers  he  kissed  softly;  and  he  patted 
the  brown  brook  on  the  back. 

"Don't  mind  about  the  neighbors," 
he  repeated;  "Noll  will  love  you  just 
the  same  as  he  does  now." 

Pat,  too,  must  have  been  something 

of  a  poet,  for  he  took  up  a  handful  of 

the  sweet   earth    and    kissed    it,    and 

prayed   God    would    bless   little   Noll. 

144 


NOLL   and   the  FAIRIES 

And  though  Pat  had  been  a  big  man 
for  years  there  were  tears  just  like 
Noll's  in  his  eyes. 

The  packing  was  interesting,  how- 
ever, the  sewing  up  of  parlor  furniture 
in  covers,  and  the  taking  all  the  pic- 
tures from  their  pegs.  It  was  curious 
to  look  at  the  backs  of  the  bureaus  and 
the  heavy  things  that  stood  against  the 
walls.  Then  Noll  found  a  funny  old 
rattle  that  he  had  played  with  when  he 
was  only  a  child. 

Outside  the  things  were  moving,  too. 
The  pigs  were  being  driven  down  the 
lane  and  the  poultry  was  shut  up  in 
boxes,  where  the  geese  stuck  their 
heads  out  the  top  and  looked  as  if  they 
were  baked  into  a  pie,  like  the  four  and 
twenty  blackbirds  of  the  story.  A  long 
row  of  carts  was  being  loaded,  and 
things  looked  funny  on  those  carts. 
MS 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

For  instance,  there  was  the  dignified 
and  upright  kitchen  safe  sprawling  dis- 
gracefully on  its  back,  its  doors  un- 
buttoned in  front  and  pillows  and 
cushions  bulging  out  of  it.  The  parlor 
table  had  its  feet  sticking  up  stiff  and 
helpless  like  a  sparrow  that  has  died  in 
the  rain.  And  the  stately  old  clock 
from  the  kitchen  had  been  put  to  bed 
in  a  mattress  with  a  towel  tied  around 
its  face  as  if  it  were  suffering  from 
toothache. 

Inside  again  Noll  went  all  excited. 
He  could  not  stay  outside  or  in. 
Round  and  round  the  empty  rooms  he 
and  Catharine  went  chasing.  They  hid 
behind  bedsteads  and  cupboards  and 
upset  a  stack  of  slats  in  a  corner,  that 
came  down  with  a  magnificent  clatter. 
Sister  Jane  said  they  were  very  incon- 
siderate, but  Jane  was  unpacking  her 
146 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

box  for  the  third  time  that  morning  to 
get  something  she  had  put  in  the  bot- 
tom. She  had  been  packing  and  un- 
packing that  box  for  a  week,  till  the 
covers  were  wearing  off  of  things  with 
the  packing  and  everything  was  getting 
shabby  and  dim.  Catharine  had  no 
packing  to  do.  She  would  carry  her 
doll  Emmeline  in  her  arms.  The  poor 
creature  had  nothing  of  a  wardrobe, 
for  the  pup  had  dragged  it  all  into  the 
orchard  and  worried  everything  past 
recognition. 

Henry  put  his  things  in  his  pockets, 
tops,  marbles,  a  pop-gun  with  potato, 
two  birds'  nests  and  four  handfuls  of 
sundries  tied  up  in  parcels  with  string. 
It  bunched  up  the  legs  of  his  trousers 
till  Pat  thought  he  was  suffering  from 
spavin,  but  Henry  was  used  to  Pat's 
joking  and  stood  about  importantly 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

helping,  giving  advice  to  anyone 
handy  and  forgetting  to  watch  the 
horse  that  was  nervous,  as  his  father 
had  bade  him  to  do. 

Noll  thought  he,  too,  would  be  im- 
portant like  Henry  and  help  with  the 
rest  of  the  men.  He  would  carry  the 
brass  kettle  to  the  wagon.  Jane  had 
carelessly  left  it  on  the  sink.  The  sink 
was  so  high  that  he  had  to  stand  on  a 
stool,  and  only  then  by  working  and 
shoving  could  he  tip  the  brass  kettle 
his  way.  When  it  did  tip  it  tipped  all 
at  once,  and  instead  of  being  empty,  as 
he  thought,  it  was  half  full  of  mother's 
grape  butter.  Noll  completed  his  mov- 
ing, dyed  red,  save  a  white  narrow 
circle  around  his  mouth,  that  he  licked 
fresh  and  clean  with  his  tongue. 

It  was  fun  to  see  the  carts  go  off 
trundling  with  the  mattresses  lolling  on 
148 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

top  and  the  teakettle  and  bird  cage 
tied  dangling  But  it  was  sad  when 
they  got  into  the  carnage  and  couldn't 
say  good-by  to  half  the  things  in  all 
of  the  hurry  and  confusion.  Noll 
wondered  what  kind  of  a  country  they 
were  moving  to.  Would  there  be  any 
brooks  there?  or  pear-trees?  or  would 
there  be  only  camels  and  elephants, 
and  soldiers,  and  simooms  instead? 
There  was  one  thing  especially  he 
longed  for,  and  that  was  a  balloon  in 
the  yard.  He  had  heard  the  school- 
master tell  often  of  balloons,  and  he 
wanted  one  handy  to  play  with. 

The  carriage  jolted  on  along  the 
road  which  had  country  on  the  sides 
much  like  home,  only  the  houses  were 
different  in  their  windows.  People 
stopped  to  look  at  them  in  passing,  and 
Noll  felt  quite  a  man  of  the  world.  He 
149 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

sang  sometimes  carelessly  to  himself  to 
make  people  think  he  moved  every 
day,  and  was  rather  bored  with  the 
monotony. 

The  villages  were  funnier  than  the 
houses.  They  seemed  to  swim  round 
and  round.  He  could  hardly  keep  the 
houses  apart.  Sometimes  they  would 
fall  together  like  a  city  of  cards,  and 
then,  when  he  thought  they  were  gone, 
they  would  suddenly  stand  up  again. 
Gradually  they  grew  vague  and  misty. 
How  the  noises  got  jumbled  together — 
the  sound  of  the  wheels  with  the  voices 
and  the  driver  cracking  his  whip! 

Suddenly  Noll  opened  his  eyes,  sat 
up  and  stared  all  around  him.  He 
thought  it  was  going  to  rain,  the  sky 
was  so  dark  and  so  gloomy. 

Then  he  saw  that  he  was  not  in  the 
carriage  at  all,  but  lying  on  a  mattress 
150 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

instead,  in  the  middle  of  a  big  empty 
room. 

Brother  Henry,  being  questioned  in 
passing,  said  they  had  been  moved  an 
hour. 


XIII 

I  GUESS  we'd  better  stop  here  a 
minute  and  think  what  the  story's 
about.  So  many  people  who  are 
listening  to  stories  don't  stop  to  think 
of  them  at  all;  and  I  suspect  that  many 
who  are  telling  them  don't  do  as  much 
of  it  as  they  should.  We  won't  make 
any  such  mistakes,  but  will  pause  to 
take  breath  and  consider.  We  will  ask 
ourselves  the  reason  of  Noll's  moving 
and  then  see  if  you  think  you  can 
guess. 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

No;  not  one  of  you  right.  I  knew 
that  you  couldn't  when  I  asked  you, 
and  I  have  been  laughing  all  the 
time. 

We  authors  are  a  wonderful  people. 
The  most  wonderful,  I  suppose,  that 
exist.  Not  only  must  we  keep  in  our 
heads  everything  that  comes  into  the 
story,  and  how  it  comes,  and  where, 
and  how  much,  but  besides  we  must 
keep  in  our  heads  all  that  might  come 
in  maybe,  but  doesn't,  and  even  that 
is  not  all,  for  there  is  everything  that 
mustn't  come  in,  no  matter  how  much 
it  may  want  to,  and  then  everything 
even  that  doesn't  want  to;  in  fact, 
everything  under  the  sun.  It  is  really 
nothing  short  of  a  miracle  that  our 
heads  don't  burst  with  it  all.  My  head 
is  sound,  for  I've  thumped  it.  It  rings 
like  a  young  gourd  in  summer — but 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

secretly  I'll  whisper  you  something 
about  all  the  rest  of  the  authors. 
Indeed  you'll  see  it  if  you  notice  them 
carefully.  They  are  all  of  them  a  little 
bit  cracked. 

But  now  we  must  go  on  with  the 
story  and  the  fairy  princess  and  all 
that  she  did,  for  she  was  the  cause  of 
Noll's  moving,  though  you  have  for- 
gotten her  altogether — I've  been  keep- 
ing her  so  quiet  in  my  head. 

She  had  never  changed  her  mind  for 
a  minute,  but  was  counting  on  Noll  all 
along.  She  remembered  that  twist  she 
had  given  him  when  the  gnome  had 
wrenched  him  away,  and  she  wanted 
him  just  as  much  as  ever,  for  she'd 
never  had  a  poet  in  her  life  although 
she  was  old  as  creation;  and  since  poets 
are  more  important  than  anybody,  she 
would  not  let  this  one  slip  from  her 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

without  trying   every  means  to    hold 
him. 

The  first  two  years  she  hadn't  tried 
much,  for  she  didn't  like  babies  very 
well,  and  thought  they  weren't  very 
important.  None  of  the  mothers  of 
her  kingdom  even  so  much  as  took 
care  of  their  own  babies.  They  gave 
them  over  to  hired  servants,  people  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  gnome.  You'd 
think  the  gnome  people  would  keep 
them,  and  sometimes  they  did  try,  I 
suspect,  but  the  babies  not  being  poets 
were  easily  won  back  to  the  princess 
by  fine  clothes  and  the  vanities  of  idle- 
ness. Once  the  princess  had  tried  to 
win  Noll  (you  remember  the  fate  of 
the  saw-collar),  but  mostly  she  said, 
"Never  mind.  Babies  don't  know 
much  and  aren't  interesting,  and  be- 
sides, I  must  keep  in  society."  This  is 
156 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

where  she  made  a  mistake,  as  she  had 
always  been  doing  before. 

When  Noll  was  two  years  old,  how- 
ever, the  princess  thought  something 
should  be  done.  She  gave  his  father  a 
better  living  and  tempted  him  away 
from  the  old  house.  The  new  house 
was  bigger  and  grander  and  had  a 
garden  instead  of  a  potato  field,  and 
seventy-five  acres  of  land,  which  was  a 
good  deal  in  those  days  for  a  preacher. 
Besides  being  bigger  and  grander,  it 
was  not  so  much  in  control  of  the 
gnome  people.  The  old  place  was  in- 
fested with  fairies.  Long  after  the 
time  that  Noll  lived  there  they  quite 
got  control  of  the  place  and  used  it  for 
dances  at  midnight  and  had  most  hila- 
rious times. 

There  is  a  story  still  among  the 
people  of  how  a  landlord  tried  to 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

reclaim  this  house  once  from  the 
fairies,  and  fit  it  up  for  one  of  his  ten- 
ants and  shingle  and  patch  up  the 
roof;  but  the  fairies  wouldn't  have  it  at 
all,  and  secretly  the  people  were 
pleased.  And  they  told  how  every 
night  in  the  darkness  an  old  hobgoblin, 
in  jack  boots,  straddled  the  ridge  pole 
and  rode  like  a  witch  on  a  broomstick, 
kicking  with  the  pointed  heels  of  his 
boots.  And  by  morning  it  was  said 
every  shingle  that  the  carpenters  had 
put  on  the  day  before  was  kicked  into 
fine  shreds  and  slivers.  At  last  the 
landlord  gave  up  in  despair  and  left 
the  old  house  to  the  fairies. 

But  this  is  a  long  way  from  our  story 
and  the  life  of  our  own  little  Noll.  He 
walked  around  the  new  rooms  so  big 
with  their  staring  white  windows  and 
he  wondered  why  they  felt  so  strange 
158 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

and  so  empty  and  whether,  his  fairies 
would  get  into  the  walls.  No  one  else 
seemed  to  mind  the  queer  feeling,  but 
all  spoke  of  the  whiteness  and  the 
grandeur.  Mother  and  sister  Jane 
were  so  pleased  that  they  worked 
themselves  sick  doing  dusting  and  were 
cross  and  scolding  with  everybody  for 
tracking  in  mud  from  the  garden. 

A  girl  named  Anna  came  to  help, 
and  she  scolded  faster  than  she  dusted. 
Father  said  it  would  be  a  great  improve- 
ment if  she  could  learn  to  do  both  at 
once.  Anna  wore  a  green  plaid  skirt, 
and  right  here  I  must  stop  about  the 
princess  and  tell  you  a  story  of  this 
skirt  and  how  Noll  actually  saved 
Anna's  life,  or  would  have,  provided  it 
were  in  danger. 

You  see  Anna  had  this  green  plaid 
skirt  and  once  when  she  had  her  head 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

down  under  the  bed  trying  to  dust 
the  bottom  of  the  bedslats,  the  pup 
grabbed  her  skirt  and  began  to  worry  it 
and  pull  some  of  the  gathers  out  of  the 
waist.  Noll  laughed.  He  was  tired  of 
Anna's  scolding.  And  after  that  they 
were  cool  with  each  other. 

Anna  had  the  advantage  of  him  in 
one  thing.  She  knew  he  was  afraid  of 
the  dark.  She  was  afraid  of  it  her- 
self, as  everyone  is  for  that  matter, 
only  she  could  stand  it  blacker  than  he 
could  because  she  was  older  and  big- 
ger. Noll  was  a  little  afraid  of  a  dark- 
ened room  in  the  daytime,  and  Anna 
wasn't  afraid  of  that  a  bit  but  walked 
in  bold  without  a  shiver,  where  if  Noll 
only  shivered  just  a  mite  or  edged 
around  the  door  of  the  dark  room, 
Anna  was  mean  enough  to  smile,  and 
openly,  so  as  everyone  could  see  her. 
160 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

Now  this  new  house  they  had  moved 
to  had  a  dark  room  opening  off  the 
kitchen  that  was  used  for  stores  and 
supplies.  It  was  known  from  the  first 
as  the  "old  bedroom" — the  name  itself 
was  enough  to  make  one  creepy.  Who 
could  tell  what  had  happened  in  there? 
Noll  couldn't,  though  he  tried  to 
imagine. 

He  was  interested  in  this  old  bed- 
room from  the  first.  It  brought  up  the 
whole  question  of  the  dark  and  why  he 
was  really  afraid.  He  decided  that  the 
reason  he  was  afraid  was  not  because 
there  was  anything  to  be  afraid  of,  for 
there  wasn't,  but  because  if  there 
should  be  anything  he  couldn't  see  it, 
and  that  was  terrible  indeed.  It  would 
not  have  been  quite  so  bad  if  there 
only  had  been  something  there.  But 
when  there  wasn't  anything  to  be 
161 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

afraid  of  and  he  couldn't  have  seen  it 
if  there  had  been,  that  was  too  much 
for  his  nerves  and  the  goose-flesh  rose 
up  when  he  thought  of  it.  Anna  might 
go  into  that  old  bedroom  if  she  chose, 
he  would  keep  a  safe  distance  outside. 
Even  when  the  door  was  left  open  he 
could  feel  a  cold  fog  of  darkness  come 
out  and  spread  like  poison  through  the 
kitchen.  He  kept  well  away  from  that 
fog. 

One  day  the  family  had  all  gone  and 
left  Anna  alone  in  the  house  with  only 
Noll  to  protect  her.  Old  Tom  was 
sleeping  on  the  doorstep;  but  old  Tom 
was  not  what  he  had  been  for  a  watch- 
dog, he  didn't  seem  to  feel  responsi- 
bility. 

"If  they've  gone  off  and  left  the  old 
house  that  I  have  watched  all  my  life 
what  is  the  use  of  beginning  over  to 
162 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

watch  another?"  questioned  Tom.  "In 
time  they  may  go  off  and  leave  this 
one."  So  he  slept  all  day  stupidly  in 
the  sun,  and  went  around  late  in  the 
evening  a-sniffing  suspiciously  at  the 
bushes. 

Noll  was  really  the  guardian  of  the 
place,  and  he  felt  the  responsibility 
heavily.  He  didn't  like  being  left  in 
charge  at  all.  Next  time  he  would  go 
along  with  some  one  even  if  he  had  to 
cry  to  get  permission.  He  would  have 
cried  to-day  if  he'd  thought  of  it,  but 
they  had  scattered  in  different  direc- 
tions and  he  couldn't  make  up  his  mind 
which  to  cry  for.  It  would  have  been 
the  most  fun  in  the  morning  to  go  off 
with  Pat  and  Mary  to  the  market,  but 
they  had  shut  up  their  cottage  and 
gone  before  he  was  out  of  his  bed. 
Father  went  away  to  the  church,  but 
163 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

that  was  most  as  dark  as  the  old  bed- 
room without  any  kitchen  joining  to  it. 
Henry  had  gone  swimming  at  the  river, 
though  father  thought  him  at  school, 
while  mother  and  sister  Jane  and  Cath- 
arine were  making  some  visits  to  the 
poor.  Mother  would  talk  to  them  of 
their  rheumatism,  and  sister  Jane 
would  read  them  a  tract.  Catharine 
carried  apples  to  give  them,  in  case, 
that  is,  she.  wasn't  hungry,  but  she 
waited  so  long  for  Jane  to  put  her  hat 
on  that  she  bit  into  three  of  the  apples 
to  find  out  which  was  the  sweetest. 
That  was  when  Noll  should  have  cried, 
but  he  thought  Henry  was  hiding  in 
the  attic,  and  he  could  follow  him  and 
go  swimming.  Henry  really  was  hid  in 
the  garden  and  went  off  without  saying 
a  word. 

So  Noll  was  left  quite  alone,  and  told 
164 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

to  take  care  of  Anna.  He  followed  her 
about,  tagging  everywhere,  though  he 
knew  that  she  hated  to  be  tagged. 

"Why  don't  you  go  play?"  she  said 
once  to  him.  "Go  play  with  the  pup  in 
the  shed." 

Noll  didn't  feel  like  the  pup.  He 
didn't  feel  like  anything  at  all.  He 
wished  it  was  night  or  to-morrow,  and 
Pat  and  Mary  were  home.  He  won- 
dered what  Pat  would  buy  him  at  the 
market,  whether  it  would  be  sweet 
cake  or  licorice.  He  didn't  know 
which  he  liked  best,  and  hoped  for  a 
little  of  both.  How  slow  and  hum- 
drum life  was!  Nothing  in  the  world 
was  worth  doing! 

"Don't  drag  your  feet  so,"  said 
Anna. 

Noll  dragged  his  feet  more  to  spite 
her. 

165 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Anna  went  on  with  her  sweeping, 
throwing  dust  saucily  with  her  broom. 

Noll  walked  right  through  the  dust, 
dragging  his  feet  in  a  pile  of  it. 

Anna  didn't  say  a  single  word,  but 
her  teeth  shut  together  like  tongs. 

Noll  tagged  wherever  she  went. 

Pretty  soon  she  took  down  the  pan 
and  started  for  the  old  bedroom  for 
potatoes. 

Then  Noll  saw  he  was  beaten,  but  he 
didn't  let  her  see  that  he  saw  it. 

She  opened  the  old  bedroom  door 
and  entered  the  dark,  gloomy  shadow. 
Noll  heard  her  walking  inside.  The 
footsteps  echoed  fainter  and  fainter. 

How  he  disliked  that  old  bedroom 
door!  The  fog  seemed  to  come  out 
and  settle,  damp  and  clammy  and 
smothering.  Noll  walked  out  the 
kitchen  as  fast  as  he  could  before  it 
1 66 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

would  fill  up  and  choke  him.  He  had 
to  go  through  an  edge  of  the  fog  in 
order  to  get  into  the  sitting-room.  He 
would  have  gone  out  of  doors  into  the 
sunshine  had  the  bedroom  door  not 
been  in  the  way.  As  it  was,  he  had 
good  reason  to  hurry.  It  wasn't  so  bad 
immediately  after  Anna  had  gone  in. 
She  had  taken  a  current  of  daylight 
along  with  her.  But  now  she  was  in 
and  swallowed  up,  the  sooner  he  cut 
through  the  safer. 

He  was  breathless  when  the  sitting- 
room  was  reached,  and  he  closed  the 
door  quickly  behind  him  to  keep  the 
fog  from  following  in.  The  sitting- 
room  was  not  very  cheery.  It  was  so 
big  and  he  was  so  little.  It  seemed  to 
be  awfully  hungry,  and  he  had  no  appe- 
tite at  all.  It  was  staring  with  three 
big  eye  windows,  and  he  had  only  two 
167 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

eyes  to  stare  back  with,  and  persisted 
in  keeping  them  tight  shut.  No,  they 
had  little  in  common.  He  decided  to 
slip  out  the  front  entry  and  pass  the 
time  in  the  garden. 

The  entry  itself  was  uncomfortable, 
with  the  stairway  coming  down  in  it 
and  no  one  to  come  down  the  stairway 
from  the  big  empty  rooms  overhead. 
If  only  a  cat  had  come  down  he  would 
have  liked  it.  He  would  get  out  the 
door  and  find  the  cats  if  the  door-latch 
wouldn't  bother  in  opening,  with  the 
stairway  all  the  time  at  his  back. 
He  managed  the  door-latch,  however, 
though  his  hands  were  shaking  a  little 
and  it  did  have  an  ominous  rattle. 

The  sunshine  helped  back  his  breath, 

and  he  thought  he  should  like  the  big 

garden  with  the  hollyhocks  stately  and 

gay.     But  the  garden  was  lonely  as  the 

1 68 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

house.  The  house  standing  by  it  made 
it  lonely.  One  would  think  they  would 
be  company  for  each  other,  but  they 
doubled  their  loneliness  up.  The  cats 
were  all  gone  away  mousing,  and  old 
Tom  was  sleeping  by  the  step. 

"Wake  up  and  play,  Tom!"  said  Noll; 
but  Tom  only  stretched  and  sighed 
heavily.  Noll  had  to  play  all  alone. 

How  big  and  bare  the  sky  was  that 
day,  and  Pat's  cottage,  how  far  off  that 
was,  and  Pat  and  Mary  not  in  it  even 
then.  Old  Daisy  was  grazing  in  the 
lot,  but  even  she  looked  lonely  and 
strange.  The  red  rooster  was  very 
much  at  ease  and  chuckling  about  Noll 
to  the  hens.  But  Noll  would  not  let 
him  see  he  was  afraid  if  he  had  to  go 
back  to  that  kitchen  filled  up  with  the 
old  bedroom  fog. 

Why  didn't  Anna  come  out?  She 
169 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

had  time  to  get  her  potatoes.  Perhaps 
she  had  come  out  slyly  and  was  peeling 
them  now  at  the  sink.  Noll  climbed 
on  the  rain-spout  to  the  window  and 
peered  through  the  dim  panes  of  glass. 
His  own  face  and  the  trees  outside 
were  all  he  could  see  there  at  first. 
That  was  startling  itself  for  a  minute, 
enough  to  give  a  big  man  a  fright. 
Then  when  he  did  see  inside  it  looked 
gloomy  beyond  all  description.  No 
Anna  peeling  potatoes.  Bedroom  fog 
choking  everything  up. 

"Come  on,  Tom,  come  and  play  take 
a  walk!  Come  and  chew  at  this  stick 
in  my  hand!  Here,  Tom!  Here, 
Tom!  Here,  Tom!"  But  Tom  opened 
one  eye  and  then  closed  it,  not  so  much 
as  lifting  his  head. 

A  hawk  came  sailing  over  the  yard, 
and  the  red  rooster  streaked  it  for 
170 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

shelter,  hiding  under  the  gooseberry 
bushes  and  calling  in  fright  to  the  hens. 
Hawks  made  Noll  naturally  think  of 
eagles  and  of  a  story  that  the  school- 
master told  once  of  an  eagle's  flying  off 
with  a  child.  Of  course  he  was  not  a 
child  now  but  a  man  full-fledged,  with 
pants,  but  eagles  are  not  pleasant  to 
think  of,  for  there's  no  telling  what 
they'll  do  next. 

"Anna!"  called  Noll,  a  little  excited, 
going  as  close  to  the  kitchen  door  as 
he  dared.  "Anna!  There's  a  hawk 
out  here  after  the  chickens!"  He 
listened  hard  for  an  answer  and  the 
hawk  had  gone  far  away. 

"Anna!  Anna!  Say,  Anna!  Say, 
Anna!  Come  out  here  and  get  me  a 
drink.  Please,  Anna!  Please,  Anna! 
Please!" 

Not  a  word  or  a  sign  from  the  house. 
171 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

"Anna!  Anna!  Anna!"  he  shouted 
as  hard  and  as  fast  as  he  could.  What 
did  he  want  now  he  wondered.  What 
would  he  say  when  she  smiled? 

Still  she  did  not  come  out,  nor  did 
she  answer  a  word.  Not  a  sound  came 
from  within,  not  a  motion  from  the  big 
gloomy  house. 

Noll  was  getting  really  frightened, 
he  had  to  admit  it  to  himself,  as  the 
cold  wet  feeling  crept  over  him.  Was 
the  old  bedroom  fog  getting  out  in  the 
sunshine?  And  would  it  choke  up  the 
sun?  He  imagined  the  sun  dimmer 
than  it  had  been,  and  old  Tom  was 
moaning  in  his  sleep.  Noll  sat  down 
to  think  what  to  do.  He  knew  now 
that  Anna  was  being  suffocated  in  the 
fog,  was  lying  on  her  face  in  the  dark- 
ness, and  someone  should  go  in  and 
drag  her  out.  He  was  the  only  man 
172 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

on  the  place.  There  are  times  when 
one  might  wish  he  were  a  woman.  It 
is  easier  to  run  and  scream  and  faint. 
But  he,  Noll,  must  go  into  that  room. 
He  must  penetrate  the  suffocating  fog 
as  it  wrapped  its  cold  clammy  arms 
around  him.  He  could  see  Anna  lying 
already  on  her  face,  her  arms  flung  out 
like  the  woman  in  the  picture  in  the 
Bible,  and  her  long  hair  dripping  with 
the  waves.  It  was  funny  how  the 
waves  got  in  the  old  bedroom,  but  he 
didn't  stop  to  think  of  that  then. 

He  got  up  slowly  and  hunted  for  his 
courage.  It  certainly  was  not  in  his 
legs,  for  they  wabbled  like  old  grand- 
father Ryan's.  His  heart  was  beating 
hard  and  then  stopping,  and  his  skin 
was  like  a  chicken's  when  dry  plucked. 
But  all  the  same  he  walked  toward  the 
kitchen.  He  opened  the  door  and 
173 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

went  in,  shut  his  eyes  and  walked  into 
the  bedroom.  How  the  dank  fog  met 
him  as  he  entered!  Cold  drops  formed 
on  his  face.  His  legs  were  steadier 
now.  He  would  seize  Anna's  body  and 
drag  it  out  or  else  he  would  die  there 
beside  her. 

He  opened  his  eyes  just  a  little  in 
order  to  try  to  see  where  she  lay,  and 
then  he  opened  them  wider  and  wider, 
for  the  old  bedroom  was  all  light 
inside.  It  was  a  commonplace,  ordi- 
nary storeroom  now  that  Anna  had 
opened  the  shutter,  and  there  she  was 
sorting  potatoes,  putting  the  bad  ones 
into  a  pan. 

She  looked  up  curiously  startled,  and 
then  impulsively  stretched  out  her 
arms.  Perhaps  she  saw  something  in 
his  face.  Anyway  Noll  ran  up  to  her 
and  gave  way  to  a  tempest  of  sobs. 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Even  brave  men  cry  sometimes  when 
all's  over.  And  Anna  never  smiled 
but  understood  him,  and  from  that  on 
they  were  very  good  friends. 


XIV 

THE  best  part  of  the   day  is  the 
night-time.     And  the  best  part 
of  the  night  is  the  day. 
Noll  reasoned  this  out  with  one  shoe 
on,  as  he  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  bed. 

There  is  something  very  remarkable 
about  the  philosophy  that  comes  from 
one  shoe.  There  was  my  son  John,  for 
example,  he  of  the  funny  old  rhyme. 
It  was  Noll  who  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover that  he  and  Revelation  John 
177 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

were  the  same.  He  once  composed  a 
poem  about  it,  which  was  probably 
something  like  this: 

With  one  shoe  off  and  one  shoe  on, 
I  sit  and  watch  the  gates  of  Heaven. 

I  see  the  hosts  of  ages  gone 
Move  in  by  seventy  times  seven. 

I  see  the  crowns;  I  hear  the  psalms; 

I  catch  the  breath  of  waving  palms — 
All  this  I  see  like  my  son  John, 
With  one  shoe  off  and  one  shoe  on. 

The  world  is  struggling  for  a  place. 
"Make  haste!"   all  cry,  "or  you  are 

lost. 
The  work  is  hard — make  haste!  make 

haste! 

Reward  for  him  who  struggles  most!" 
They  do  not  ask  the  reason  why 
They  toil  and  fail,  and  fail  and  try. 
178 


NOLL   and   the  FAIRIES 

How  can  they  when,  with  both  shoes 

on, 
They  will  not  sit  with  my  son  John? 

But  he  and  I  sit  pensively, 

Not  heeding  all  their  words  of  warn- 
ing. 

Philosophers  and  poets,  we, 
We  breathe  the  joys  of  early  morn- 
ing. 
And  though  when   Judgment   Day   at 

last 

Has  closed  the  gate  of  Heaven  fast, 
And  all  are  in,  save  us  alone, 
We  are  content  for  we  have  known 
The  meaning — I,  and  my  son  John, 
With  one  shoe  off  and  one  shoe  on. 

He    was    not  afraid  to  go  to  bed. 
Brother  Henry  kept  away  the  afraid. 
Jt  was  then  Noll  most  appreciated  a 
179 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

brother.  If  he  got  a  little  nervous 
from  thinking,  he  could  dig  elbows  into 
Henry's  short  ribs.  Then  when  Henry 
woke  up  and  rolled  over  and  Noll  saw 
there  wasn't  any  danger,  he  pretended 
to  be  fast  asleep,  breathed  hard  and 
held  his  mouth  open.  No,  it  was  not 
because  he  was  afraid.  It  was  only 
that  he  wanted  to  enjoy  life,  and  the 
best  time  to  do  it  was  the  evening 
when  grown  folk  are  taking  their 
leisure,  and  when  children,  or  at  least 
all  good  children,  if  sister  Jane's  judg- 
ment can  be  trusted,  are  sleeping  and 
dreaming  of  the  angels,  though  Noll 
always  dreamed  of  something  else. 

In  the  old  house  things  had  been 
better,  not  so  much  according  to  rule. 
Noll  went  to  sleep  as  was  handy,  sitting 
in  the  wood-box  was  a  good  way,  close 
up  to  the  shovel  and  tongs,  Man  Tongs 
180 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

and  Mrs.  Shovel  Woman.  Sometimes, 
too,  father  would  trot  him  or  snuggle 
him  up  on  his  lap.  Father  sang  sleep 
songs  when  he  trotted.  Sermon  songs 
were  the  best  ones  for  that.  Noll  went 
to  sleep  on  the  first  one,  but  wakened 
as  soon  as  they  stopped.  If  they  tried 
to  put  him  to  bed  he  dug  his  eyes  open 
with  his  fists,  and  vowed  he  was  not 
sleepy  at  all.  The  end  was  the  wood- 
box  as  usual  with  Man  Tongs  and  Mrs. 
Shovel  Woman. 

But  in  the  new  house  there  came  a 
new  order.  They  had  to  live  up  to 
their  position.  Noll  was  put  into  his 
night-gown  at  dark  and  told  to  be  a 
good  child  and  not  whimper — in  short, 
to  be  an  honor  to  the  family.  He 
liked  the  night-gown  all  right,  though 
it  did  interfere  with  his  stepping.  He 
had  to  lift  it  up  when  he  ran,  not  too 
181 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

high,  for  Jane  said  that  was  not  proper. 
Sometimes  when  Jane  was  at  the  mir- 
ror rubbing  goat's  milk  on  her  eye- 
lashes to  make  them  longer,  he  let  pro- 
priety go  to  the  winds,  took  his  gown 
up  neatly  in  his  arms  and  chased 
around  the  table  after  Catharine.  Yes, 
he  quite  loved  the  old  night-gown 
with  bare  feet  and  bare  legs  sticking 
under. 

But  the  bed  was  a  different  thing. 
Why  a  bed  anyway,  pray  Heaven?  with 
square  yards  of  uninhabited  cold  linen 
and  slippery  pillows  that  swell  up  and 
bulge.  Henry  was  in  bed  and  sleeping 
stupidly,  missing  all  the  nice  things  of 
the  house.  Why  should  one  take  to 
cold  linen  when  there  are  soft  fuzzy 
rugs  by  the  fire?  Why  a  great  slick 
bouncing  square  pillow  when  father's 
boots  are  smelling  sweet  with  leather 
182 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

and  all  the  dusty  lanes  they  have 
tramped  through?  Besides,  a  pillow  is 
apt  to  make  one  sleepy  and  the  hard 
boots  dig  into  the  head.  In  that  way 
they  keep  eyes  partly  open  and  nothing 
of  importance  is  missed. 

Old  friends,  too,  came  to  visit  them — 
Man  Tongs  and  Mrs.  Shovel  Woman. 
Father's  boots  knew  these  people  very 
well,  and  they  had  many  a  chat  after 
bedtime. 

"Come,  Noll,"  his  mother  was  saying. 
"Come,  now,  it  is  time  to  go  to  bed." 

"Yes'm,"  said  Noll,  very  obediently, 
but  low  so  as  not  to  attract  any 
attention. 

Mother  went  on  with  her  advice  to 
the  neighbor,  and  our  four  friends 
planned  for  a  festival,  for  the  boots 
only  counted  as  one. 

"Let  us  sing,"  said  Mrs.  Shovel 
'83 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

Woman,  for  she  was  very  proud  of  her 
voice. 

"Or  dance!"  said  Man  Tongs,  squeak - 
ily  limbering  his  legs  at  the  joint. 

"I  say  we  tell  stories,"  said  Noll. 
"What  do  you  want  to  do,  father's 
boots?" 

Father's  boots  suggested  they  do  all 
three,  and  each  one  give  a  rhyme  in 
addition. 

"You  begin,"  agreed  the  others  at 
once. 

So  the  boots  began  patting  steps 
softly  as  they  recited  in  concert  these 
rhymes: 


Said  Shovel  to  Tongs,  said  Shovel  to 

Tongs, 
"Come,  you  dance  the  hornpipe  and  I 

will  sing  songs. 
184 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Your  waist  is  so  short,  and  your  legs 

are  so  tall, 
Be  careful,  step  sidewise,  or  else  you 

will  fall. 
No  doubt  you  feel  proud,  standing  out 

of  the  dirt, 
But  'tis  funny  to  think  of  the  length  of 

your  shirt." 

"O  Shovel,"  said  Tongs.    "O  Shovel," 

said  Tongs, 
"With  joy  I'll  dance  hornpipes  if  you'll 

sing  the  songs. 
It  is  true,  as  you  say,  I  am  short  in  the 

waist, 
And  you   are   much  longer — too  long 

for  my  taste, 
But  if  you  must  laugh  at  the  length  of 

my  shirt, 
I  can  only  reply  'tis  as  long  as  your 

skirt." 

185 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

So  Shovel  and  Tongs,  so  Shovel  and 

Tongs, 
Made  merry  together  with   hornpipes 

and  songs. 

"Capital!  Capital!"  cried  Man  Tongs 
whose  legs  had  been  beating  the  time. 

Mrs.  Shovel  Woman  hummed  the  air 
softly,  sounding  the  notes  low  down 
her  long  throat. 

The  neighbor  got  up  to  be  going. 

"Noll,  Noll,  I  thought  I  told  you  to 
go  to  bed,"  said  his  mother,  speaking 
in  her  company  voice.  "I  think  you 
must  be  very  sleepy." 

"No,  ma'am!  No,  thank  you!  I'm 
not  sleepy.  I  was  closing  my  eyes  so 
as  to  see  better." 

He  was  so  very  polite  before  the 
neighbor  that  his  mother  felt  proud  of 
the  example,  and  asked  the  neighbor 
186 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

to  sit  awhile  longer.  Politeness  always 
pays.  So  remember. 

"Now,  Noll  shall  sing  some  verses!" 
cried  the  boots,  wagging  their  tops  in 
approval.  "Noll  is  a  poet  and  likes 
verses." 

"I  will  hum  an  accompaniment,"  said 
Mrs.  Shovel  Woman,  with  modesty. 
"Though  I  have  got  a  touch  of  bron- 
chitis from  that  time  Catharine  left  me 
out  in  the  rain  after  getting  my  feet 
wet  in  her  pie  dough." 

"Poor  Catharine!  She  didn't  do  it 
on  purpose,"  said  Man  Tongs,  looking 
over  to  the  settle  where  Catharine's 
black  head  was  a-nodding.  "She  bent 
one  of  my  legs  in  a  mouse  hole.  I  shall 
never  dance  quite  the  same  again. 
But,  pshaw!  I  don't  blame  her  for  that." 

"She  filled  us  up  with  milk  though," 
said  father's  boots,  somewhat  com- 
187 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

plainingly.  "It. was  last  summer  when 
we  stood  behind  the  door  and  she 
thought  we  must  be  getting  hungry. 
She  poured  in  a  little  every  morning. 
Of  course  it  only  soured  on  our  stom- 
achs and  we  came  very  near  turning  up 
our  toes." 

"A  song!  A  song!"  shouted  Man 
Tongs.  "Noll  shall  sing  us  a  song  of 
the  boots,  since  Mrs.  Shovel  Woman 
and  I  have  been  celebrated." 

So  Noll  put  his  arms  around  the 
boots  and  chanted  softly  so  Man 
Tongs  could  dance,  and  Mrs.  Shovel 
Woman  struck  do,  me,  sol,  do. 

Father's  boots  are  dear  to  me, 

Big  boots,  black  boots, 
With  them  I  live  merrily, 

Dig  boots,  whack  boots. 
Now  we  stride  o'er  hill  and  dale, 
1 88 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

Now  we  play  at  ship  and  whale, 
Now  we  step  on  pussy's  tail, 
Naughty  father's  boots. 

Father's  boots  slip  on  my  legs, 

Deep  boots,  wide  boots. 
Then  I  walk  as  on  two  pegs, 

Leap  boots,  stride  boots. 
Tops  come  up  above  my  knees, 
Come  much  higher  if  you  please, 
Oh,  my  gown  is  black  with  grease! 
Dirty  father's  boots! 

When  I'm  grown  a  man  up  big, 

Tug  boots,  fight  boots, 
With  a  spectacle  and  wig, 

Hug  boots,  tight  boots, 
I  will  take  you  into  bed 
When  they  call  me  sleepy-head, 
And  we'll  sleep  to  beat  the  dead, 

Dear  old  father's  boots. 
189 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

The  neighbor  had  gone  away  nodding 
wisely,  saying  it  was  exactly  what  she 
thought  herself. 

Mother  was  smiling  over  her  knit- 
ting when  she  happened  to  look  down 
at  Noll. 

"Noll!  Noll!  Is  it  possible  that  you 
have  not  gone  to  bed?  Why,  even 
Jane  and  Catharine  have  gone  and 
brother  Henry  has  been  sleeping  for 
an  hour." 

"I  think  my  foot  is  getting  worse," 
said  Noll,  looking  at  one  foot  carefully. 
"I  was  staying  up  to  see  if  you  could 
cure  it." 

"I  will  go  and  get  the  arnica,"  said 
his  mother,  "and  then  you  must  go  off 
to  bed." 

"Just  time  for  another  song,"  said 
Mrs.  Shovel  Woman,  all  in  a  flutter. 
"I  will  sing  a  little  song  to  Noll's  toes. 
190 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

May  they  always  walk  him  out  of  his 
trouble." 

Then  she  began  in  her  best  form 
flirting  out  her  skirt  and  making  a  bow 
at  the  moment  she  was  taking  high  C. 

Five  sweet  soldiers  in  a  row, 
At  their  head  brave  Captain  Toe, 
Next  the  sergeant  in  the  ranks, 
Stands  up  straight  and  plays  no  pranks. 
Next  the  gallant  corporal 
Answers  to  his  country's  call. 
Next  the  private  crooks  his  knee, 
Counting  softly  one,  two,  three. 
Last  of  all  the  drummer  boy, 
Soldier's  pride  and  soldier's  joy. 

"Glorious!  Glorious!"  cried  Man 
Tongs,  leaping  up  and  striking  his  toe- 
less  feet  together. 

"Glorious!  Glorious!"  echoed  the 
191 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

boots.    "That  thrills  us  clear  down  to 
our  feet." 

Mother  came  back  with  the  arnica. 

"Now  hold  up  your  foot  and  hold  it 
still." 

"I  think  it  is  this  foot,"  he  said, 
whimpering. 

"Why,  I  see  nothing  at  all!  Father, 
you  must  put  your  boots  in  the  closet. 
Noll  has  blackened  himself  from  his 
head  to  his  feet." 

"I  have  to  set  the  boots  there  to  dry," 
said  father,  looking  up  from  his  sermon. 

"Yes,  yes,  to  dry,"  gasped  Noll. 
"But  perhaps  they  would  dry  better  in 
the  night-time  if  I  put  them  at  the 
head  of  my  bed." 

"How  stupid  you  are!"  exclaimed  his 
mother.    And  then  she  began  saying  to 
father  that  she  believed  Noll  was  the 
dullest  child  they  had. 
192 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

He  found  good  time  to  pat  them  all 
good-night,  and  thank  them  for  a  very 
pleasant  evening. 

"Come,  Noll,  come!"  said  his  mother. 
"Come,  tell  your  father  good-night." 

"Good-night,  father,"  running  over. 
"Oh,  please  could  I  sit  on  your 
knee?" 

"Run  along,  Noll,  run  to  bed.  Your 
mother  is  waiting.  It  is  time." 

"Please,  please,  just  as  we  used  to  in 
the  old  house,  and  you'll  sing  me  one 
little  song." 

So  father  took  him  up  on  his  knee, 
and  mother  said,  "You're  spoiling  the 
child."  Then  she  sat  down  and  folded 
her  hands,  for  she,  too,  liked  to  hear 
father  sing. 

"What  shall  it  be?"  asked  father, 
clearing  his  throat  precisely  like  Mrs. 
Shovel  Woman. 

193 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

"The  Hog,  the  Hen  and  the  Kanga- 
roo.' " 
So  father  began: 

The  hog,  the  hen  and  the  kangaroo 
Went  out  to  sea  on  a  summer's  day, 

The  wind  was  fair  and  the  sky  was  blue, 
Sing  hey  day  day  ruddy;   sing  tol  de 
rol  day. 

Said  the  hog  to  the  hen,  "I  am  feeling 
sick! 

I  want  to  go  back,  and  I  want  it  quick!" 

But  the  hen  sat  and  smiled  at  the  kan- 
garoo, 

So  what  could  the  poor  sick  hoggie  do? 

A  porpoise  was  blowing  to  cool  his  tail, 
Sing  hey  day  day  ruddy;  sing  tol  de 

rol  day. 

The    hen    screamed   and   fainted — she 
thought  it  a  whale. 
194 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

Sing   hey,  sing  hey,   sing  tol  de  rol 

day. 

She  fell  in  the  arms  of  the  kangaroo, 
So  he  became  helpless  as  hoggie  was, 

too. 
The  sky  was  fair,  but  the  strong  wind 

blew, 
Sing  hey,  sing  hey,  sing  tol  de  rol  day. 

The  boat  upset  in  the  waters  blue, 
Sing  hey,  sing  hey,  sing  tol  de  rol 

day. 
The  hen  wet  her  bonnet  and  spotted 

her  shoe, 
The  hog  spoke  in  Latin,  and  what  he 

did  say 

Is  not  for  me,  and  is  not  for  you, 
Sing  hey  day  day  ruddy;  sing  tol  de 

rol  day. 
We  only  remember  the  words  of  the 

hen, 


NOLL   and   the  FAIRIES 

"One  never  can  trust  in  these  horrid 
men." 

So  this  is  the  moral.     The  story  is  told, 
A  story  as  old  as  the  world  is  old. 

"Sing  the  song  of  'Sweet  Lettice  Gar- 
diner,' "  said  Noll,  for  he  knew  that 
that  was  a  long  one. 

Sweet  Lettice  Gardiner  was  a  maid 

You  scarce  can  hope  to  see. 
She  dwelt  in  a  cottage  close  beside 
A  brown  brook,  girt  with  margins  wide 
Of  meadow's  greenery. 

And  Lettice  Gardiner  sang  as  she  spun, 

As  she  wove  she  sang  this  song, 
As  she  spread  the  linen  white  in  the 
sun, 

196 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

Where   the   grass  was    long    and   the 

brook  did  run, 
She  sang  through  the  whole  day  long: 

Oh,  the  open  sea  with  its  heaving  tide 

Is  the  only  love  for  me, 
I  will  lie  on  its  breathing  bosom  wide. 
The    sea  is  my  bridegroom,   the  sea  is 
my  bride, 

I  will  marry  the  open  sea. 

The   song   she   had  learned  from  the 

singing  brook, 
As  it  softly  sang  to  the  sky 
Where   it   paused   to   mirror   in    stilly 

nook, 

The  ocean's  blue  in  its  lover's  look 
And  the  ship  clouds  sailing  by. 

For  the  brook  had   no   thought  of  a 
river's  care, 

197 


NOLL  and  the   FAIRIES 

Of  mills  to  turn  night  and  day, 
Of  the  fret  of  wharves,  and  of  wheels 

that  wear, 
Of  burdens  to  bear,  and  of  strength  to 

bear 
The  ships  to  the  sea  away. 

Nor  did  Lettice  think  of  those  lying  still 

In  the  unknown  fathoms  deep: 
Of  the  wild  winds  working  their  wild 

winds'  will, 
Of  the  waters  that  beat,  and  the  waters 

that  kill, 
While  waiting  women  weep. 

But  her  mother,   often,    shaking    her 

head, 

Would  beg  for  a  homelier  song — 
A  song  of  meadows  and  roses  red, 
Of  lovers  and  maidens  garlanded 
In  May-day  troop  and  throng. 
198 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

But  Lettice  Gardiner  still  sang  on, 
The  song  that  she  loved  to  sing. 

And  spring  passed  over,  and  summer 
was  gone, 

And  autumn  faded  to  winter  wan, 
And  winter  warmed  to  spring. 

And  the  springtime  brought  her  a  lad 

from  the  sea, 

A  sailor  with  sea  blue  eyes; 
And  his  hand  was  warm,  and  his  step 

was  free, 

And  his  songs  rang  clear  and  tunefully, 
In  wave-wind  harmonies. 

And  often,    together,  they    sang    her 

song, 

Together,  and  hand  in  hand; 
And   the  willows    that    grew    on    the 
banks  along 

199 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

Sighed   softly   to   think   of   their   chil- 
dren's wrong, 
And  of  peace  that  dwells  on  the  land. 

And  her  eyes  were  brown  as  the  brook 

was  brown, 

And  his  eyes  were  blue  as  the  sea; 
And  as  water  flows   from  the  brown 

brook  down, 

Unheeding  the  bustle  of  mill  or  town, 
But  murmuring  musically, 

So  the    love    light    flowed    from    the 

brown  of  her  eyes 
Into  his  eyes,  blue  with  the  deep 
And  the  warm  mists  rising  to  sunset 

skies 

Were  tinctured  with  purple  of  paradise 
And  of  dreams  not  dreamed  in  sleep. 

And     together    they     plighted     their 
solemn  troth 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

They  would  wed  with   the   coming 

year, 
And   the  hands  and    the  lips  of   the 

lovers  both 
Were  joined  in  compact,  and  eyes  not 

loth 
Answered  eyes  with  promising  tear. 

Then  he  went  away  to  his  sailing  ship, 

To  the  roaring  Spanish  Main; 
And  watching  eye  and  quivering  lip 
Grew  weary  with  many  a  season's  slip, 
For  he  never  came  back  again. 

He  never  came  back,  for  his  ship  of 

doom 

Had  sunk  on  the  Rocks  of  Pride. 
He  never  came  back,  for  the  bride  had 

come 
To  take  in  her  cold  arms  the  ruddy 

groom. 
The  sea  he  had  sung  was  his  bride. 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

And  Lattice  Gardiner's  hair  is  white, 

And  her  voice  has  lost  its  ring; 
And  her  eyes  are  worn  with  weary  sight 
With  watching  by  day  and  with  weep- 
ing by  night, 
But  her  firm  lips  still  do  sing: 

Oh,  the  open  sea  with  its  heaving  tide 

Is  the  only  love  for  me, 
I  will  lie  on  its  breathing  bosom  wide. 
The    sea    is  my  bridegroom,  the  sea  is 
my  bride, 

I  will  marry  the  open  sea. 

Noll  was  sleeping  before  the  song 
was  begun,  but  father  held  on  to  him 
warmly,  and  mother  reached  out  to 
touch  his  hand.  Only  some  time  after 
it  was  over  did  father  lay  him  gently  in 
the  bed. 

But  the  next  morning  Noll,  on  being 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

questioned,  stated  solemnly  that  he  had 
not  been  asleep.  And  at  breakfast  he 
announced  to  the  family — and  strange 
enough  he  actually  believed  it — that  he 
had  lain  awake  in  bed  there  for  hours, 
in  fact  did  not  sleep  a  wink  all  the 
night. 


203 


xv 

SO  THE  fairy  princess  had  her  own 
way,  or  thought  she  had,  which 
made    her    just    as    happy.      It's 
about  all  any  princess   has,  and   they 
might  as  well  be  satisfied  with  think- 
ing.      Anyway      Noll's      family      was 
grander  and  richer.     It  was  curious  the 
way  it  affected  them,  from  father  all 
the  way  down. 

Sister  Jane  felt  her  riches  the  most. 
It  even  changed  her  manner  of  smil- 
ing; she  now  drew  her  mouth  in  at  the 
205 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

corners  precisely  where  it  used  to  run 
out.  Her  nose,  too,  was  always  smell- 
ing something  even  when  there  was 
nothing  to  smell.  It  smelled  most 
when  she  met  the  miller's  daughter 
Julia.  The  miller  owned  but  three 
acres  and  his  mill,  and  he  did  all  his 
work  in  the  garden.  Julia  was  a  nice 
girl,  of  course,  Jane  always  smiled  when 
she  met  her,  but  that  was  the  differ- 
ence of  the  smiling — she  drew  in  the 
corners  of  her  mouth. 

Father  was  changed  next  most  by 
their  money,  but  changed  in  a  different 
way  from  Jane.  Maybe  that  was 
because  he  was  older,  and  Jane  was  but 
just  growing  up.  Father's  mouth 
stretched  wider  out  than  ever.  It  was 
hardly  like  a  minister's  mouth  at  all. 
His  very  ears  took  on  a  sort  of  smiling 
to  carry  out  the  stretching  of  his 
206 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

mouth.  He  smiled  on  all  the  beggars, 
and  old  soldiers,  and  on  poor  relatives, 
as  well  as  on  the  rich.  His  smile 
always  asked  them  in  to  dinner,  and  at 
the  table  it  asked  them  to  eat  more. 
You  ought  to  have  heard  cook  scold  in 
the  kitchen.  Even  mother  looked  seri- 
ous sometimes,  but  father -kept  on  with 
his  smiling. 

Mother  thought  there  should  be 
some  limit,  since  father  was  doing  so 
much.  She  smiled  now  three  after- 
noons a  week,  or  when  she  put  on  her 
second  best  silk.  Before  they  moved 
and  when  they  were  poor,  she  had 
worn  a  silk  dress  only  on  Sunday,  but 
now  that  a  new  one  had  been  pur- 
chased, she  wore  the  old  one  three 
afternoons  a  week  to  keep  up,  she  said, 
with  her  position.  At  other  times  she 
almost  looked  severe,  and  often  she 
207 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

spoke  in  father's  hearing  of  the  thrift- 
lessness  and  laziness  of  the  poor. 

As  for  Catharine,  her  riches  didn't 
change  her.  She  kept  on  the  same  as 
before.  She  played  with  Tim,  the  son 
of  the  miller,  and  shared  her  bread  and 
jam  with  crippled  Mike.  She  even 
stood  on  one  foot  out  of  pity,  since  one 
was  all  Mike  had  to  stand  on.  Jane 
said  Catharine  was  too  big  for  such 
actions,  and  it  was  not  proper  to  stand 
on  one  foot.  Then  Catharine  cried 
like  a  thundershower  that  thunders 
even  after  it  stops  raining. 

The  relatives  began  to  come  in  to 
pay  father  and  mother  long  visits.  The 
rich  ones  promised  to  come  again,  and 
the  poor  ones  stayed  at  first  coming. 
They  made  so  much  work  for  the  cook 
that  she  was  quite  worn  out  with  their 
eating.  She  said  they  were  worse 
208 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

than  the  beggars,  and  that  Noll's 
father  would  die  in  the  poorhouse. 
The  fairy  princess  must  have  been  dis- 
couraged as  she  saw  all  her  riches 
being  eaten;  perhaps  she  found  some- 
one to  help  her,  for  soon  Aunt  Conrad 
came  down  from  the  city,  and  she  took 
such  a  liking  to  Noll  that  she  offered 
to  adopt  him  for  always,  and  she  said 
she  would  make  him  a  real  gentleman 
and  give  him  a  fortune  in  her  will. 
Noll  didn't  know  what  a  fortune  was, 
nor  a  will,  nor  a  gentleman,  either, 
but  he  guessed  it  must  be  something 
nice  from  the  way  his  mother  drew  in 
her  breath.  Perhaps  they  were  all 
made  of  sugar,  with  gilt  paper  or  some- 
thing outside.  He  liked  Aunt  Conrad 
pretty  well,  though  she  did  seem  to  be 
mostly  satin.  He  was  vexed  with  her 
a  few  days,  however,  for  insisting  that 
209 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

he  must  have  his  hair  cut.  She  said 
that  he  looked  like  a  rag-tag,  and  was 
a  disgrace  to  his  family  and  his  station. 
You  see  all  the  matter  with  his  hair 
was  that  he  had  got  a  few  burdock 
burs  stuck  in  it.  He  and  Jane  and 
Catharine  were  playing  when  the  bur- 
dock burs  got  themselves  in.  They 
had  been  making  baskets  and  animals, 
swans  and  lions  and  everything.  Noll 
could  make  only  door-mats  himself, 
they  are  so  easy  and  flat.  When  they 
came  to  carry  the  animals  they  had  not 
hands  enough  among  them  to  go 
around.  Jane  put  the  big  things  in  her 
apron,  but  the  ram  and  the  cow  got  their 
horns  locked,  and  the  rooster  stuck  his 
spurs  into  the  camel  so  deep  that  they 
stayed  in  his  side.  Catharine  filled  her 
sunbonnet  with  the  kitchen,  but  the 
washboard  leg  stuck  to  the  baskets  till 

210 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

the  handle  came  off  of  the  biggest, 
where,  joined  to  the  leg  of  the  wash- 
board, it  looked  like  a  big  letter  K. 
This  would  not  do  at  all,  although  it 
was  funny  to  laugh  at.  So  Noll  was 
given  the*  baskets  to  carry  in  his  own 
separate  hands.  But  what  should  he 
do  with  his  door-mats  when  he  had 
three  fine  ones  all  ready?  It  was  plain 
there  was  but  one  thing  to  do,  and  that 
he  did  without  thinking.  He  piled  the 
three  mats  together  and  put  them  on 
top  of  his  head.  He  had  long  curls 
then,  soft  and  silken.  That  was  before 
the  time  of  the  tags. 

The  mats  looked  so  fine  on  his  head 
that  he  pressed  them  down  tight  to 
make  them  firmer.  Jane  said  they 
were  exactly  like  a  crown,  and  they 
played  he  was  King  Noll  and  knelt 
before  him  and  asked  for  his  majesty's 

211 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

bidding.  All  of  this  lasted  on  till  sup- 
per time;  and  the  animals  and  the 
kitchen  they  played  store  with,  and 
purchased  them  one  by  one  for  the 
king.  At  supper  he  wore  the  crown  in 
to  show  it;  the  prickles  were  sticking 
his  forehead,  but  he  had  heard  that 
crowned  heads  were  uneasy,  and  took 
the  prickles  as  part  of  the  play.  Still 
he  must  scratch  them  a  little,  though 
Aunt  Conrad  did  say  it  was  naughty  for 
a  gentleman  to  be  scratching  his  head. 

"What  have  you  done?"  said  his 
mother,  instead  of  saying,  "What  is 
your  majesty's  bidding?"  as  he  had  half 
expected  she  would.  "Oh,  your  poor 
curls  will  be  ruined." 

She  came  toward  him  to  take  the 
crown  off,  but  Noll  put  both  his  hands 
down  tight  on  it,  and  pressed  it  in  as 
hard  as  he  could.  Then  began  the  cry- 

212 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

ing  and  the  fussing  and  a  terrible  time 
with  the  scissors,  and  the  comb,  and 
father,  and  everything.  It  lasted  till 
long  after  bed-time  and  Noll  screamed 
and  fought  to  the  end.  The  scissors 
clipped  close  to  his  scalp,  and  from 
that  time  he  had  curls  no  longer,  but 
wore  his  frayed  hair  in  long  tags  that 
looked  like  a  goose  after  plucking. 

It  was  aunt  Conrad  that  insisted  and 
insisted,  and  finally  Noll  had  to  give 
in.  It  was  the  promise  of  six  sweet- 
meats that  did  it,  though  Aunt  Conrad 
thought  it  was  love.  It  is  a  terrible 
thing  to  have  hair  cut.  The  big  shears 
go  shiver  and  scrunch.  And  some- 
thing squeaks  in  the  handle  and  the 
sharp  points  endanger  the  ears.  There 
is  nothing  that  makes  one  so  nervous; 
it  is  a  great  deal  worse  than  beheading, 
for  that  is  over  in  a  minute,  but  this 
213 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

keeps  on  an  hour  after,  cutting  and 
scrunching  and  squeaking.  He  was 
glad  enough  when  it  was  done,  and  he 
had  the  six  promised  sweetmeats. 
Aunt  Conrad  called  him  her  nice  little 
gentleman,  and  he  tasted  of  his  finger 
to  try  himself  and  found  it  true  he  was 
sweeter  than  sugar. 

After  that  came  his  table  manners  to 
consider,  for  Aunt  Conrad  said  a  gen- 
tleman could  never  eat  as  he  did,  cram- 
ming in  pudding  with  both  fists.  The 
ways  of  a  gentleman  are  peculiar,  and 
senseless  things  become  very  impor- 
tant. Why  should  a  gentleman  use  a 
knife,  for  example,  that  slips  down  his 
sleeve  to  his  elbow  and  gouges  him 
under  the  eye?  Then  a  fork  must  be 
watched  in  the  other  hand,  or  Catha- 
rine is  impaled  as  on  a  spit.  It  is  very 
trying  and  confusing,  and  if  an  ordi- 
214 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

nary  man  would  keep  from  starving  he 
must  get  into  the  kitchen  when  all's 
over  and  feed  himself  as  nature  in- 
tended. 

Yes,  he  would  go  with  Aunt  Conrad 
and  be  a  little  gentleman,  as  she  asked 
him.  He  inquired  first  if  she  had  a 
kitchen  and  she  said  she  had,  though 
not  so  big  as  this.  He  imagined  it  was 
richer,  however,  with  the  pots  and  the 
pans  of  pure  gold,  and  while  he  was 
dreaming  of  this  splendor  there  was 
something  beautiful  that  happened 
that  made  him  decide  he  would  not  be 
a  gentleman  and  go  off  with  Aunt 
Conrad  at  all.  I  suppose  that  the  prin- 
cess was  disgusted,  but  this  is  the  way 
it  all  came  about. 

It  was  Pat  and  his  nest  like  the 
robin's,  and  the  gnome  people,  too,  I 
suspect.  Anyway  there  it  was  one  fine 
215 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

morning,  and  father  Pat,  proud  as  a 
king — a  little  pink  baby  in  the  bed  with 
wrinkled  face  screwing  up  and  twisting 
and  little  hands  soft  as  pink  snails. 
Noll  patted  the  white  blanket  gently, 
and  kissed  mother  Mary  on  the  cheek. 
He  was  disappointed  at  finding  only 
one  of  them,  however,  and  went  out  to 
the  woodpile  where  Pat  was  smoking 
and  swelling  up  like  a  lord. 

"I  thought  we'd  have  a  nest  full,"  he 
said,  wisely,  after  they  had  been  think- 
ing some  time. 

Pat  was  a  bit  puzzled  at  first,  and 
looked  at  Noll  as  if  startled.  "How's 
that?"  he  asked  him  at  length. 

"Why,  you  see  the  robins  had  four, 
and  your  house  was  bigger  than 
theirs." 

"Oh,  that's  it,"  said  Pat,  quite  re- 
lieved. "Well,  now  you  see  it  was  this 
216 


NOLL  and  the  FAIRIES 

way,"  and  then  he  smoked  on  in 
silence. 

"Well?"  asked  Noll. 

"You  see  it  was  this  way,"  said  Pat. 

"Yes?"  said  Noll,  very  sober. 

"Well,  well,  why,  it's  the  custom — 
it's  the  custom,  man,  to  have  only 
one." 

"Oh!"  said  Noll,  very  wisely,  shaking 
his  head  as  if  he  knew.  "Oh,  it  is  the 
custom  —  of  course.  But  —  but  some 
day,  perhaps,  there'll  be  more." 

And  at  this  Pat  looked  prouder  than 
ever. 

Noll  was  thinking  now  of  Aunt  Con- 
rad, and  wondering  how  he  could  ever 
go  away  with  this  little  baby  here  need- 
ing him,  and  Pat  and  Mary  ignorant  as 
cows  as  mother  said  that  morning  they 
were. 

You  may  guess  that  some  one  was 
217 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

anxious  as  Noll  sat  with  his  chin  in  his 
hands,  thinking  enough  to  split  his 
head. 

It  was  long  before  he  spoke  out  again, 
and  then  very  solemnly  and  slowly. 

"Will  he  grow  up  as  big  as  me,  Pat?" 
he  said. 

"Sure  he  will,  Noll!  Sure  he  will 
grow  up  as  big.  Only  you  will  keep 
growing,  too,  so  he  never  will  be  quite 
as  big." 

"And  will  you  be  his  only  father,  and 
tell  him  everything  to  do?" 

"Sure,  only  there'll  be  a  godfather, 
and'  he  will  help  me  with  advising." 

"Will  it  be  my  father,  the  god- 
father?" asked  Noll,  a  little  mixed  and 
breathless. 

"Oh,     he     wouldn't      have     time," 
answered  Pat.    "I  must  get  some  one 
who  isn't  so  grand." 
218 


NOLL   and  the   FAIRIES 

"The  schoolmaster?" 

"Oh,  the  schoolmaster  is  beyond  the 
likes  of  me." 

"Do  you  think  I  am  grand  enough?" 
he  asked,  wistfully.  This  seemed  a 
turning  place  in  his  life. 

"Noll,  you're  just  the  man  I  need," 
said  father  Pat,  taking  his  hand. 

"Then  I  couldn't  go  away  and  be  a 
gentleman.  I  couldn't  go  with  Aunt 
Conrad,"  very  softly. 

"No,  you  couldn't  very  well." 

"I'll  stay  here  and  be  godfather  with 
you,  and  I'll  help  you  with  raising  the 
baby." 

"And  then  we'll  be  brothers,"  said 
Pat,  proudly.  "You  and  I,  brothers 
together." 

"Don't  brothers  sometimes  kiss  each 
other,  Pat,  when  one  of  them  is  bigger 
than  the  other?" 

219 


NOLL   and   the  FAIRIES 

Pat  caught  him  to  his  breast  without 
a  word.  He  knew  what  Noll  was  giv- 
ing up,  and  how  he  had  wanted  and 
wanted  to  be  a  gentleman.  As  for  the 
fairy  princess  who  was  watching,  she 
flew  away  in  disgust,  and  Noll  lay  cry- 
ing very  softly  with  Pat's  breathing 
pressed  up  close  to  him. 


We  have  come  to  a  stop  in  the  story; 
not  the  real  stop,  I  am  hoping,  for  the 
life  of  a  poet  is  long  and  little  Noll 
lived  many  years. 

Some  day,  to-morrow,  perhaps,  we 
will  take  up  the  story  again.  I  prom- 
ise you  plenty  of  adventure  if  ever  that 
time  comes  to  pass. 

But  not  now,  not  to-night  any  more, 
for  some  little  heads  are  a-nodding. 
Even  big  heads  get  tired  sometimes, 

220 


NOLL   and  the  FAIRIES 

and  now  as  I  thumped  my  own  gourd 
one  I  heard  a  faint,  dry,  seedy  rattle. 

Good-night,  and  a  kiss  for  the  baby. 
I  am  glad  we  can  leave  ours  with  Pat, 
as  he  holds  him  up  close  in  his  arms. 


PRINTED  BY  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 
AND  SONS  COMPANY,  AT  THE 
LAKESIDE  PRESS,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


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